Karnataka seizes nearly 565 tonnes of rice in PDS enforcement drive

A three-day enforcement drive in Karnataka seized 564.99 tonnes of rice valued at ₹1.34 crore and 20 transport vehicles. The office of Food and Civil Supplies Minister Rizwan Arshad said the operation targeted suspected diversion from the Public Distribution System.

The Food and Civil Supplies Department coordinated the operation with commercial tax, agricultural marketing, police and excise authorities. Six criminal cases were registered involving nine people. The seized vehicles were valued at ₹3.41 crore.

In Bengaluru Rural, officials stopped a lorry at Attebele carrying 35,000 kilograms of rice in 700 Food Corporation of India bags. According to the minister’s office, the consignment, valued at ₹11.63 lakh, had been packaged under the WoW brand with the designation Rice for Africa.

Investigators said Mandya-based Annapurneshwari Enterprises had bought rice from a local Food Corporation of India warehouse and sold it to Madhya Pradesh-based Sailar Exports Ltd for shipment through Chennai. The minister’s office alleged an unlawful export operation. These assertions describe investigators’ findings rather than a court conviction.

The statement also said the company had traded up to 56,450 quintals of rice over two months, compared with documented Food Corporation of India purchases of 5,000 quintals.

In Lokur village in Belagavi, officials seized 422,000 kilograms of PDS rice valued at ₹98.67 lakh. Three other lorries heading towards Maharashtra carried 71,800 kilograms of grain repacked in branded bags. Another 35,391 kilograms was found in an abandoned truck in Vijayapura, the minister’s office said.