PDS commodities smuggling: 6,947 cases booked till Jan 2020

Food Minister R Kamaraj said that the total seizure of the commodities was valued at Rs 5.34 crore in 6, 947 cases and 4,870 accused were arrested, and 1,339 vehicles were seized. Among the seized commodities, PDS rice forms the major portion as 17,640 quintals of PDS rice worth Rs 4.95 crore were seized.

Around 13,233 litres of PDS keronse worth Rs 1.98 lakh and 661 LPG cylinders worth Rs 5.94 lakh were also seized. Civil Supplies CID is functioning with 22 units headed by Inspectors, 11 units headed by sub-inspectors and five special patrol teams in Kanniyakumari, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Krishnagiri and Vellore districts to prevent smuggling of rice to neighbouring states of Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Civil Supplies CID is actively cracking down smuggling cases. “Nearly 29 notorious smugglers were detained under Prevention of Black Marketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act, 1980 and lodged them in prison. All top-notch smugglers of Tamil Nadu and southern states have been totally put out of action,” said Kamaraj.

Another challenge faced by Civil Supplies CID is to prevent smuggling of PDS rice through trains and so the State government has decided to form a new subdivision in Chennai and increase the strength of the Civil Supplies CID.

“The Chennai wing of Civil Supplies CID is functioning with a low strength of 13 police personnel and they have to get external assistance to prevent smuggling of PDS rice through trains. To strengthen the Civil Supplies CID department state government will allot Rs 28 lakh and the Chennai division will be split into North and South Chennai divisions for effective monitoring,” saidKamaraj.