Rs 50 cr PDS hoarding fraud unearthed in MP’s Mhow, 7 booked

Irregularities to the tune of Rs 50 crore have been unearthed in the public distribution system in Indore’s Mhow tehsil and seven people have been booked so far, a senior official said on Saturday.
Indore Collector Manish Singh told reporters further probe was underway, adding that the “fraud is expected to swell to Rs 100 crore”.
He said seven people, which includes one Mohan Agarwal, his sons Mohit and Tarun as well as traders Ayush Agarwal and Lokesh Agarwal, have been booked in five FIRs that have been lodged since August 17.
They have been charged under Essential Commodities Act and the IPC for forging documents related to transportation of rice from Mhow to places far off, Singh, who is also district magistrate, said.
“They sold less rice, wheat, kerosene to authorised PDS beneficiaries and hoarded huge quantities to sell in the open market at sizable profit. Sub Divisional Magistrate Abhilash Mishra got a tip-off on hoarding in Mohan Agarwal’s godown in Dongargaon area, after which it was raided on August 17,” Singh informed.
The raiding team seized 635 bags of PDS rice, and the first FIR in the case was lodged in Badgonda police station, the collector said.
ASP (Rural) Amit Tolani said the accused are on the run and the police have announced a reward of Rs 5,000 on each of them.