Telangana: Two Adilabad traders held for selling fake branded rice; 79 quintals seized

Three traders were booked, and two of them arrested, for allegedly cheating the public by selling public distribution system (PDS) rice in branded packaging under the guise of premium quality rice.

The arrests were made in Adilabad town on Tuesday, and police seized 79 quintals of rice. One accused is still absconding.

Superintendent of Police Akhil Mahajan said Gugulwar Rajeshwar and Shaik Ayub, both from Adilabad, were apprehended for selling rice from the PDS stock in bags labelled with popular brand names such as Jai Shriram, Golden Cycle, Surya Teja, Madhuram, Deepam, Geethanjali, White Platinum, and Sri Datta. A third accused, Shaik Aslam, is currently at large.

During interrogation, Rajeshwar and Ayub confessed to filling empty branded bags with PDS rice and selling them at inflated prices to earn quick profits.

Following a tip-off, police raided the traders’ grocery stores and recovered 79 quintals of rice. The raids were carried out under the supervision of DSP L Jeevan Reddy, with Inspectors P Chandrashekhar, B Sunil Kumar and SI Ashok participating in the operation.

This article has been republished from The Telangana Today.