On Thursday, ED arrested Rice Millers Association treasurer Roshan Chandrakar in Chhattisgarh’s custom rice milling scam. Roshan has been arrested from Delhi. He was produced in the special court of Raipur, from where he has been handed over on 5-day remand.
During the hearing, ED had sought 14-day remand of Roshan Chandrakar. The next hearing of the case will be on May 20. This is the second arrest in the Rs 140 crore custom rice milling scam. Earlier on April 30, ED had arrested former Markfed MD Manoj Soni.
Investigation revealed that the treasurer of the association, Roshan Chandrakar, was collecting the levy and giving information to the officers. Payment to those from whom money was not received was stopped. According to businessmen, officers had to be paid for every work.
Manoj Soni and Roshan’s game was going on for two years
According to businessmen, the game of Manoj Soni, Roshan Chandrakar and their associates was going on for 2 years. An entire team was formed for this. The team also included Markfed officers and officials of Chhattisgarh State Millers Association. It is alleged that money was taken for custom milling, DO cutting, thinning of thick paddy, thickening of thin paddy and converting FCI into Naan. Read the full news…
This is how the recovery system was created
ED investigation found that the then District Marketing Officer Preetika Pooja Kerketta was instructed by Manoj Soni through Roshan Chandrakar. It was said that the bills of the same rice millers have to be paid who have given the recovery amount to Roshan Chandrakar.
Information about which rice millers were to be paid was available through the Rice Millers Association of the concerned district. After making payment to the millers whose information Roshan Chandrakar gave to Preetika, the amount of the remaining millers was withheld.
After the corruption investigation in the custom milling case and the arrest of Manoj Soni, the Enforcement Directorate has issued summons to rice millers. At the same time, many people associated with the association have reached the ED office and recorded their statements. ED may soon arrest those officers and people associated with the association who do not cooperate in the investigation and do not come even after summons.
ED team had raided in October 2023
ED raided on 20 October 2023. ED wrote on its official
In this investigation related to rice scam, many suspicious documents, digital devices and Rs 1 crore 6 lakh cash were found. ED started investigation on the basis of Income Tax complaint. After this investigation, the local ED team gave a report and after that an FIR was lodged.
BJP MLA Shivratan Sharma had raised the issue in the assembly.
On March 6, 2023, in the Assembly, BJP MLA Shivratan Sharma had alleged recovery of Rs 20 per tonne in custom milling. He had said that only those millers who pay recovery get paid. After this, the then minister Mohammad Akbar had asked for evidence and there was a huge uproar in the House.
