Vigil intensified at Kerala border to prevent PDS rice smuggling from Tamil Nadu
COIMBATORE: Civil Supplies CID police have intensified checking at all state borders in Coimbatore district in order to prevent the smuggling of ration rice. According to police, over 30 rural routes connecting Kerala and Tamil Nadu, mostly used by for rice smuggling have been identified and patrolling intensified there.
Civil-Supplies CID Police said they have set up 13 check-posts at border points between Coimbatore and Kerala, including Walayar, Velanthavalam, Anaimalai, Anaikatti, Muthukavundanur, Naduppuni, Gopalapuram, Meenakshipuram and Valparai.
R Vivekanandan, Inspector of Civil-Supplies CID Pollachi, said, “K Vannia Perumal, after taking charge as DGP of Civil Supplies CID wing in August, ordered to strengthen the border check posts to curtail the PDS rice smuggling. Also, he instructed the district units to intensify the surprise raids at the homes of people arrested earlier in connection with rice smuggling. Based on his instructions, we have intensified the checking at the border.”
He said that they have booked around 270 rice smuggling cases in the past nine months and arrested over 200 persons. “We have seized around 150 tons of PDS rice this year and 150 vehicles. Three of them were regularly involved in rice smuggling and were detained under the Goondas Act,” he added.
As per their assessment, three state border points Walayar, Velanthavalam and Meenakshipuram are vulnerable to smuggling. A senior police official said, “The smugglers have been using these routes for smuggling as there is a lack of surveillance. Identifying the unmanned routes is a big task and we identified most of the routes with the help of Coimbatore District (Rural) police.
The smugglers buy rice from villagers at low prices and transport them in bikes through unmanned routes to Kerala, where they can sell them fixing high prices. Now we have started to monitor the unmanned routes. Our teams along with the local police will patrol regularly and also we are tasked to develop sources at the village level to get information about the smuggling.”