District administration cracks down on large-scale irregularities involving fake vehicles, massive overloading and recycling of paddy; hunt on for absconding accused
TFP Bureau, Raipur, January 20, 2026: A major scam involving irregularities in paddy procurement and transportation has been unearthed in Chhattisgarh’s Mungeli district, with the district administration exposing fraud amounting to ₹8.14 crore. Acting swiftly on an alert received from the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) of Markfed, Raipur, the administration has launched a comprehensive crackdown on illegal practices including the use of fake vehicles, gross overloading of transport vehicles and recycling of paddy.
According to officials, investigations revealed that vehicles deployed for transporting paddy from procurement centres to rice mills were overloaded far beyond permissible limits—ranging from 200 percent to an alarming 1,116 percent of their actual capacity. This blatant violation not only flouted transport norms but also facilitated large-scale manipulation of records and financial fraud.
The probe was carried out by a joint team of the Food Department and the Police Department under the supervision of Collector Shri Kundan Kumar and Superintendent of Police Shri Bhojram Patel. The inquiry established that rice mill owners, cooperative society managers and other accomplices worked in collusion to siphon off government funds, causing a loss of over ₹8.14 crore to the exchequer. FIRs have been registered at multiple police stations, four accused have been arrested so far, while searches are underway to nab four others who are currently absconding.
Officials stated that the accused deliberately prepared forged documents, failed to distribute rice under the Public Distribution System (PDS), and falsely showed transportation of paddy using fake vehicle registration numbers. By inflating transport and procurement figures, they managed to show procurement of quantities far in excess of the actual paddy handled. Preliminary findings indicate serious irregularities in the procurement and transportation of more than 11 lakh quintals of paddy.
Detailed scrutiny revealed that the Nawagaon Ghuthera Cooperative Society, in collusion with Upleta Rice Mill, illegally transported paddy using 74 GPS-enabled vehicles and over 40 vehicles without GPS tracking. Similar violations were detected at several other centres. At the Singhanpuri procurement centre, 4,542 quintals of paddy were illegally transported using non-GPS vehicles in collusion with SS Food. At the Chhatan procurement centre, 3,589 quintals of paddy were moved irregularly with the involvement of Deepak Rice Mill and Navkar Mill. The Jhagarhatta procurement centre was also found to be involved in irregularities linked to Vardhman Rice Millers.
In connection with these cases, multiple arrests have been made, including the operators of Upleta Rice Mill and Vardhman Rice Mill, a society manager and a computer operator. Meanwhile, Abdul Samad, Lalit Jain, Navend Menon and Anil Jangde have been identified as absconding accused, and police teams are conducting raids to trace and arrest them.
Cases Registered Across Police Stations
In addition to the main cases, separate FIRs relating to fraudulent transportation, cheating and procedural violations at paddy procurement centres have been registered at Fasterpur police station (Crime No. 12/2026) and Lalpur police station (Crime No. 09/2026). The accused in these cases have been arrested and sent to judicial remand.
The district administration has issued a stern warning, stating that no form of corruption, irregularity or fraud in paddy procurement or the public distribution system will be tolerated. Officials reiterated that strict action will continue against all those involved and that the absconding accused will be arrested soon, ensuring accountability and safeguarding the interests of farmers and the public exchequer.
