720 quintal of paddy hoarded by traders in two Odisha districts recovered

Over 720 quintal of paddy reportedly hoarded by traders across Malkangiri and Jagatsinghpur districts were recovered in the last 24 hours. Around 500 quintal of the illegally stored paddy were recovered from Malkangiri and the rest over 220 quintal were seized in Jagatsinghpur.

In Malkangiri district, an enforcement team of the Civil Supplies department conducted raids at multiple locations in Kalimela block on Thursday after receiving information about illegal hoarding of paddy by traders.

During the raids, around 200 quintal of paddy allegedly stored by one Prashant Dey were seized from a private warehouse in Badali panchayat, and the godown was sealed. Another truck carrying about 200 quintal of paddy was seized near the warehouse and deposited at Poteru outpost.

The team also seized around 40 quintal paddy from a tractor in Manyamkonda area and another about 80 quintal from two pickup vans in Gompakonda. The vehicles have been seized and the drivers at Kalimela police station. Officials said verification of the seized paddy is being carried out.

Sources said physical verification of actual paddy stocks of all registered farmers under 68 mandis in the district is underway. Preliminary findings indicate that some traders had reportedly stocked paddy at the houses of farmers who had no produce left, with plans to sell it later at mandis. FIRs will be lodged against the warehouse owner, middlemen and vehicle owners involved in the illegal movement and storage of paddy, officials said.

Similarly, the Jagatsinghpur administration on Wednesday night conducted a raid at the house of a trader at Mattagajpur under Krushanandapur police limits and seized over 220 quintal of illegally stored paddy. The trader had reportedly collected large quantities of paddy from local farmers at low prices and hoarded it with the intention of selling it later at higher rates in the black market.

Acting on a tip-off, sub-collector Prasant Kumar Tarai along with Tirtol additional tehsildar Kalpana Tapaswini Nayak and police raided the house of Nrusingh Das (37) at Mattagajpur. During the raid, officials seized 381 plastic bags of paddy, each weighing around 55–60 kg, stored in the house.

The accused had reportedly procured the paddy from small and marginal farmers at rates below MSP and stocked it for later sale in PACS at higher prices.

The additional tehsildar has lodged an FIR in Krushanandapur police station. Police said a case has been registered and further investigation is underway.

This article has been republished from The New Indian Express.