The police on Friday claimed to have busted a gang by seizing 18 quintals of PDS rice from it in Srinagar.A police officer said that on February 1, one passenger auto (JK01S-5376) was intercepted at a routine check post near police station Soura and it was found loaded with six sealed gunny bags of PDS rice.The auto was driven by one Tanveer Ahmad Beigh of Shah Mohalla Ahmednagar and another person Mohammad Ashraf Shah alias Aashiq Shah son Mohammad Subhan Shah of Bewara Danmar Sangam Srinagar was accompanying him. The duo was arrested and auto seized on spot, the officer said. case (FIR No. 15/2018) under RPC sections of 409, 411 and 120-B was registered in Police Station Soura and investigation taken up.“The arrested persons disclosed that they had illegally bought the rice from one Government store Keeper, Mohammad Haneef Dar of Awantabhawan , at present Ellahibagh Soura who runs the PDS store (Shali store) at Ellahibagh Soura. The government store keeper was accordingly arrested,” the officer according to GNS said.During the interrogation, the officer said, Dar disclosed that he “illegally” sells the PDS Rice actually meant for public distribution to one person who he identified as Bashir Ahmad Wani of Narwara Eidgah.
Accordingly, he said, during further investigation 30 bags of PDS rice which he had repackaged illegally into duplicate “Apple Brand” rice bags. “One sewing machine, weighing machine and sewing thread was also recovered from the spot and accused person was arrested,” police said. The further investigation of the case was going on, the officer added.The PDS rice was actually meant for public distribution and the “criminal breach of trust” by the accused persons causes food scarcity among the general masses, the officer said.“The accused persons were running a scandal of misappropriating PDS food grains and then selling it by repackaging and rebranding it as “apple brand rice” and selling it to gullible people on higher rates thereby earning illegal profit,” he said. (GNS)