Tamil Nadu: Five arrested for smuggling 3,800kg PDS rice

The Civil Supplies Crime Investigation Department (CID), Madurai, arrested five people and seized 3,800kg of Public Distribution System (PDS) ration rice that was being smuggled illegally in a minitruck.

According to a statement, a police team led by the civil supplies CID police inspector, M Senthilkumar, was on patrol in the Vandiyur area in Madurai on Saturday night. Around 11:30 pm, six suspicious people were seen unloading white polythene parcels from a minitruck parked near a tin shed at PKM Nagar 2nd Street. When the police team checked the vehicle, they found 1,480kg of raw PDS ration rice in 37 parcels. Police also searched the tin shed and found 2,320kg of boiled PDS ration rice in 58 sacks, which was smuggled and stocked illegally.

P Moorthy alias Ganeshamoorthy, 32, of Kalmedu, R Raghu, 24, of Iravathanallur, B Karthik Eswaran, 22, of Puttuthoppu, K Kabilan, 19, of Sakkimangalam, and M Kuppusamy, 23, of Sakkimangalam, were arrested and remanded in judicial custody. The smuggled PDS ration rice weighing 3,800kg was seized. Police are on the lookout for one more accused Arun Pandi who is at large.

This article has been republished from The Times of India.