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AIADMK likely to move court seeking CBI probe into rice seizure at Puducherry

Secretary of the Puducherry unit of the AIADMK A. Anbalagan at a press conference on Sunday.

PUDUCHERRY: Secretary of the Puducherry unit of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) A. Anbalagan said on Sunday that the party would not hesitate to move court if the government in the Union Territory did not recommend a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the seizure of rice meant for Tamil Nadu’s public distribution system.

Addressing a press conference here, he said that though several political parties in Puducherry had raised the demand, the Chief Minister had not responded to the plea.

Recalling that the AIADMK unit had already written to the Union Home Minister, the Food Minister, the Lieutenant Governor and the CBI Director on the issue on November 3, he said a decision on moving court would be taken after obtaining the party general secretary’s permission.

Justifying the demand for a CBI probe, he said the Puducherry police had not taken any step to book the key accused in the case. The investigation should cover the role of the railway authorities concerned, a Mumbai-based private bank, a Tuticorin-based private agency that obtained loan from the bank by hypothecating the rice stock and a trading agency that purchased the commodity auctioned by the bank, he added.

On Tamil Nadu Food Minister E.V. Velu’s statement that the rice seized at the railway station was smuggled during the AIADMK rule in 2005 and the private agency obtained loan from the bank in March 2006, Mr. Anbalagan said the rice was stocked in a godown at Mettupalayam in Puducherry only in July 2006 after the DMK came to power in the State.

According to details provided by the railway authorities on Saturday, over 7,000 tonnes of rice had been smuggled through the Puducherry Railway Station during the last three months, he said.

The first consignment of 2,340 tonnes was sent to Bangladesh in 39 wagons on September 13.

A total of 20 wagons with 1,247 tonnes of rice was despatched to Jorhat in Assam on September 22, he added.

The third consignment of 1,241 tonnes and the fourth one of 2,524 tonnes were sent to New Guwahati in Assam on September 22 and October 7 respectively in a total of 60 wagons.

The consignment of 2,400 tonnes that was booked for Bikkavolu station near Kakinada was seized at the station on October 26, he said. Apart from this, around 3,500 tonnes of PDS rice kept at two godowns in Puducherry were also seized, he said.

The Tamil Nadu government owed an explanation to the people as to how such large consignments of PDS rice were smuggled to Puducherry, giving a slip to several check-posts en route, Mr. Anbalagan said.

He also cautioned the Puducherry government against “attempts to safeguard persons involved in the case.”

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