Punjab police file FIRs against transporters, rice millers, and arhtiyas for illegally selling out-of-state paddy at MSP in Bathinda, Ferozepur, and Fazilka.

Up to five cases have been filed this month in various districts against at least 15 individuals, including transporters, rice millers, and arhtiyas, for attempting to sell paddy imports from other states at a discount in Punjab mandis on the minimum support price (MSP), according to officials with knowledge of the situation. Such cases have been reported in the districts of Bathinda, Ferozepur, Muktsar, Faridkot, and Fazilka in south Malwa.

In the majority of the cases, officials acknowledged, corrupt elements from Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh purchased the paddy. Some arhtiyas and rice shellers are accused of conspiring with their agents to purchase non-basmati rice from farmers at lower prices, then transport it to the Punjab mandis where it can be sold on the MSP for a substantial profit.

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According to Punjab Mandi Board secretary Ramvir Singh, he was aware of at least three such FIRs. Field inputs, he claimed, indicated that there had been a notable decrease in the unauthorized transfer of paddy from other locations to Punjab. “To make sure that no such paddy reaches the Punjab mandis, teams of officials are rigorously observing 22 sites on the interstate borders. He further stated that licenses of rice millers and arhtiyas discovered to have engaged in the malpractice would be withdrawn, in addition to severe legal action against the culprits.

One of these FIRs was filed on October 13 at the Nehianwala police station in Bathinda, according to an official, and involved the arrest of tractor trolley driver Mandeep Singh and commission agent (arhtiya) Deepak Goyal for “illegally” importing grain from Rajasthan.

Under Sections 318(4) (cheating) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), a similar complaint was filed against Gobind, Ramesh Kumar, and Lovepreet from Hanumangarh at Mamdot in Ferozepur. Two arhtiyas, Major Singh and Manpreet Singh of Fazilka, were also charged in the same case for allegedly pushing at least two paddy-filled trolleys into Ferozepur mandis.

Over 40,000 rice bags that had not been released by the authorities for milling were discovered by officials of PUNSUP, a state body involved in the paddy procurement, and a FIR was filed against two members of the Royal Rice Mills management in Muktsar on October 20 at the Lakhewali police station.

Five individuals from Hanumangarh were among the six people in Faridkot who were charged in a formal complaint filed at the Kotkapura police station on October 11. Authorities claimed that they were attempting to smuggle paddy from Rajasthan.

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In a similar vein, authorities said that a formal complaint had been filed in Fazilka, although they had not yet disclosed the identities of those arrested until this report was filed.

The practice has been going on for a number of years, according to officials who asked not to be named, as some rice millers and arhtiyas were working with officials to falsify records to indicate that paddy that was bought from Rajasthan, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh had been grown in Punjab.