Keralite, 27, held with 2.6 tonnes of ration rice

Civil supplies CID sleuths attached to the Pollachi unit arrested a 27-year-old man for attempting to smuggle 2.6 tonnes of ration rice to Kerala from the city in the early hours of Tuesday. They also seized a goods autorickshaw that was used for smuggling ration rice from him.

One of the officers identified the arrested person as K Dilip, of Mankavu in Palakkad district in Kerala. He said two more men were involved in the case.

He said, “D Janani Priya, deputy superintendent of police, civil supplies CID, received a specific tip about the smuggling of ration rice and started conducting a vehicle check at Walayar check post along with her team around 5am. They stopped a goods auto and found 53 bags of ration rice, each containing 50kg, in it. They arrested the driver and seized the vehicle and rice.”

Preliminary inquiry revealed that the rice was collected by Farooq, of Ukkadam in Coimbatore city, from various cardholders by paying them a meagre amount. “He then supplied it to a person identified as Arul, who roped in Dilip to transport the same to Kanjikode in Kerala, where he was planning to sell it in the black market. The duo are on the run. We have formed a special team to nab them,” the officer said.

This article has been republished from The Times of India.