900 quintals of PDS rice seized, 7 held

CHENNAI: The Civil Supplies-CID wing on Tuesday said they have arrested seven rice smugglers and seized about 900 quintals of PDS rice from different parts of the State in one week.A release said, C Shankar (35) of Sorakolathur, Tiruvannamalai purchased PDS rice distributed through the PDS in his native and other areas and smuggled it in lorries to Karnataka. He had two cases against him in this connection and the CS-CID arrested him and seized 83 quintals and a lorry.In another case, S Rajendran (44) of Virudhunagar district, a big fish in the racket, was arrested and 182 quintals of rice and two vehicles were seized. He had four similar cases against him. N Kolanji (48) of Kallakurichi, Cuddalore, ran a rice mill where he processed the smuggled PDS rice and sold it in the open market at a higher price. Four cases were filed against Kolanji and 30 quintals seized from him. C Chinnakannu (50), who had hoarded rice at Dharmapuri and Madhinkopalayam for smuggling  to Karnataka, was held and 57 quintals seized. He had two major cases against him.In Chennai, two smugglers, including P Kutti alias Jagadeesan (39) of Kodambakkam who ferried the rice to Andhra Pradesh, were arrested. Jagadeesan had cases registered against him in  Tiruvannamalai, Tiruvallur and Chennai. About 207.5 quintals was seized from him, while 50 were seized from his aide, L Vinod.In Salem, C Murthy (31) was arrested and 316 quintals and two lorries seized.  Over the last four months, 114 persons were held for smuggling PDS items.