Odisha:Raid on Balikuda rice mill raises questions

Questions are being raised on the action of civil supplies officials and the district authorities against a newly-opened rice mill in Balikuda which faced raids over allegations of illegal stocking of rice and export to Bangladesh last week.

The raid on Salasar Agro Products last Thursday resulted in seizure of three paddy-laden tractors and rice bags labelled with ‘Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh’.

Mill chairman Santosh Agarwal said, “I don’t know why the raid was conducted despite our full compliance with regulations. We have an agreement with the state government for milling rice, but no official document has been issued in our favour yet. So, test milling is underway at the facility.”

Agarwal refuted allegations that the mill was illegally exporting rice to Bangladesh. He said the mill has permissions for exports from the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, and ADGF Kolkata since 2023. The mill also holds a Udyam registration certificate for manufacturing, he said.

The civil supplies department seized a large quantity of rice from the mill but has not provided any formal notification. “As per legal provisions, the authorities are required to inform us about the quantity of rice seized and obtain signatures from our authorised representatives and witnesses. However, these formalities have not been carried out,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, the civil supplies officials have not filed an FIR against the mill in the police station despite making the seizures during the raid.

Civil Supplies officer Sujata Mishra said the mill authorities failed to provide export permission and other relevant documents during the raid. “Our squad had seized 600 packets of rice on Saturday. Another two truckloads of rice that were reportedly being prepared for export to Bangladesh, were seized on Sunday,” Mishra added.

This article has been republished from The New Indian Express.