FCI foodgrain for little kids diverted to traders at night

AHMEDABAD: In a shocking find, a crime branch probe has revealed that foodgrain meant for mid-day meals of kids in classes 1-3 was being delivered to hands of traders by a gang.Trucks loaded with grain from warehouses of Food Corporation of India were apprehended at about 2 am on August 7, while the sacks were being offloaded at a private warehouse in Naroda GIDC. The occupier of the warehouse and two truck drivers were arrested and the goods seized.
The foodgrain supplied at Rs 2 or Rs 3 per kg for the poor was being diverted to traders who then sold it at Rs 18 per kg in the open market, said investigators, who suspect the presence of a long-running and widespread scam.
"We have received concrete leads about other places where the FCI foodgrain was being regularly diverted," said a crime branch official.
The probe was handed over to crime branch about ten days ago. Since then, many new facts have come to light in the ongoing probe.
Police said the 548 gunny bags of rice and wheat seized from the private warehouse were meant for mid-day meals at schools and fair price shops at Vatva and Harni Vav in Ahmedabad Rural.
The involvement of government officials in the scam is also being probed, said investigators, who are trying to ascertain what steps the schools and fair price shops had taken, when they didn't receive shipments.
"We are questioning about eight to nine suspects," said a crime branch official.
"Local police stations have been asked to inform whether any cases have been registered with them over missing supply of grain meant for mid-day meals," said the official.
The raid in which the two trucks were seized was conducted by Manjeeta Vanzara, ACP, F Division. " Acting on a tip off, police kept a watch and caught the two trucks carrying foodgrain from FCI warehouse in Meghaninagar when they had just finished offloading the goods in the Maruti warehouse in Naroda," said the official.
Jeetendra Gelot, the person who received the stolen grain at the warehouse, and the two truck drivers Jagdish Marvadi and Shivkumar Tomar were arrested.