Following Punjab Government's instructions against the illegal flow of paddy from various other states into Punjab, the Patiala police has not only launched a massive drive but also succeeded in putting a check on the malpractice. The police along with revenue and mandi board officials have busted a racket and lodged as many as 13 FIRs during the last 2 days, arresting 20 persons, seizing over 32 vehicles carrying about 822.5 tonnes of paddy.Giving details , Vikram Jeet Duggal, SSP Patiala said, “As per the inputs available with the Patiala police from reliable sources , numerous heavy vehicles/ mostly trucks carrying loads of paddy from the states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, etc were entering Punjab through various interstate routes.Patiala district police in coordination with the District administration, taking a serious note of the matter and identified various inbound routes across Punjab-Haryana border such as Shambu, Pehowa, Balbera, Cheeka, Dhabbi Gujjran, Patran, etc in Patiala district, strong Nakas/ check posts were set up to monitor the illegal movement of trucks during the last two days (w.e.f 16.10.2020). Flying squads consisting of Police, Revenue and Mandi officials have been formed to check this illegal practice.”SSP further disclosed, “Preliminary investigations revealed that this inbound paddy is first purchased at lower rates in other states and then transported to Punjab and meant to be sold at much higher price, thereby giving a huge price margin to the seller. This practice causes enormous and undue burden on the state exchequer on one hand, while causing great deal of indirect loss to the farmers of Punjab, on the other. Most of the heavy vehicles carrying paddy loads have been observed to be coming all the way from the states such as UP and Bihar”.“We have started registering criminal cases against all such offenders involved in the paddy smuggling racket”, said the SSP.The State Government has taken a very serious view of the matter and clear instructions have been given especially to the border districts to remain against any such illegal flow of paddy or any other goods/ commodities through inter-state borders, thereby causing any direct or indirect loss to the farmers of the state or the government.