Bhubaneswar: The Odisha crime branch DGP, BK Sharma, Saturday said that two rice mill owners have been arrested in connection with two separate cases of misappropriation of rice worth Rs 3 crore. According to him, the arrests were made on the basis of FIRs registered by Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation (OSCSC) for failure in delivery of rice after receiving paddy.
The state crime branch economic offences wing (EOW) has arrested Dilip Kumar Agrawalla, managing director of Sabitri Industries, Jajpur, and Pankaj Agrawalla, director of Ganapati Parboiling Industries,Bhadrak. Pankaj’s Ganapati Parboiling Industries is a company registered with its head quarter at Christopher Road Kolkata. The crime branch sources said that Pankaj, who has been arrested from his residence in Chowbazar-Baraka in West Bengal’s West Burdwan district, will be produced in the local court before being brought on transit remand for production before the Bhadrak SDJM court. The sources added that Dilip will be produced before the Chandikhol JMFC court in Jajpur district.
The Sabitri Industries of Dilip Kumar Agarwal and Ganapathi Paraboiling Industries of Pankaj Agrawalla were allotted paddy for conversion into rice under the decentralisation procurement scheme of the Central government. The two, however, failed to deliver the total paddy converted to rice to the OSCSC. In the process, the Sabitrir Industries and the Ganapati Industries have misappropriated Rs2.97 crore and Rs1.22 crore with consequential loss to the state exchequer respectively.
