32 tonnes of rice seized from 6 smugglers

The gang tried to smuggle the rice across the border near the inter-state boundary at Naalroad in Erode district.The police and flying squad officials said the six persons arrested by them were involved in the illegal act. Officials said that they were closely monitoring the movement of goods between the two states and based on a tip-off about large scale smuggling of PDS rice on Saturday they checked all the trucks on the border areas. 

They found 32 tonnes of rice packed in 640 bags, with each bag weighing about 50 kg. An official said that two trucks and a car used by the accused for collecting the rice illegally and for transporting it to Karnataka were also seized. Rice recovered from them was taken to a Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation godown. 

On inquiry, the police arrested six persons involved in the crime. The arrested persons were produced before a Judicial Magistrate in Erode district before they were lodged in the Coimbatore central prison under judicial custody. 

Civil Supplies Department and the police were trying to nab others involved in this case of smuggling rice out of the state. The smugglers who siphon off the rice meant for free distribution in the PDS in Tamil Nadu, take the commodity over to other states, polish it and sell it for higher price. Since the market price have increased the demand for such smuggled rice has also gone up.