*Kingpin managed key posting despite involvement in many scams
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, June 30: A multi-crore ration trans-shipment scam involving officials of the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department has surfaced in the heart of Udhampur town and many heads are all set to roll shortly as it has come to the fore that the main accused in this scam was posted on the key position of the department in the district despite his involvement in many scandals in the past.
In order to ensure that all the involved officials are strictly punished under the law, entire record relating to the scam would shortly be handed over to the Crime Branch of the State Police for registration of FIR.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that the multi-crore scam of ration trans-shipment came to the fore when Deputy Commissioner Udhampur, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary along with Assistant Director, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department, Zeeshan Tahir were conducting surprise inspections in various mills, go-downs, stores and distribution shops of the department recently.
These surprise inspections were aimed at tightening noose around those involved in swindling of Government ration meant for the registered consumers. However, it came to the fore that officials of the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department were leaving no stone unturned even to loot the exchequer of the State by forging the ration trans-shipment.
During surprise inspection in FCI go-down and grinding mill located just opposite to each other in the heart of the Udhampur town, it was established that practically no expenditure was being incurred on trans-shipment of ration from go-down to the mill for grinding purpose but on papers it was reflected that ration was first unloaded at FCI go-down and then shifted to the grinding mill. Actually, the ration was always unloaded directly in the mill premises, sources disclosed.
During scrutiny of record by the Deputy Commissioner, it came to the fore that an amount of Rs 3, 90,231 was shown as labour charges for loading and unloading of trucks and Rs 17, 24,544 as carriage charges from the Food Corporation of India go-down to the nearby mill. Moreover, under direct induction of wheat in the mill Rs 12, 25, 311 was shown as expenditure on carriage and labour.
In this way, bills worth Rs 21.14 lakh were being raised every month for fake trans-shipment from the go-down to the mill and annually an amount of Rs 2.52 crore was being drawn from the exchequer by forging trans-shipment of ration, sources said, adding “since this practice was going on during the past many years, it is estimated that an amount of Rs 30 crore has been siphoned off in case of only one grinding mill”.
They disclosed that Assistant Director, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department, who has worked out the loss of Rs 3 crore per annum to the exchequer on the basis of analysis of the documents impounded from the go-down and mill, has submitted detailed report to the Deputy Commissioner.
On his directions, detailed report about the credentials of the officials of the CAPD, who were directly associated with this multi-crore ration trans-shipment scam, has also been furnished to the Deputy Commissioner and stern action is likely against them shortly, sources further said.
They revealed that kingpin of this multi-crore scam was posted on a key position in the district more than one year back despite the fact that top brass of the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department had issued a word of caution in this regard keeping in view the involvement of official in many scams in the past.
When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Udhampur, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary confirmed detection of multi-crore ration trans-shipment scam and said, “report submitted by the Assistant Director clearly indicates fraud committed by some key officials and a preliminary verification is being concluded within next few days following which case will be handed over to the Crime Branch for registration of FIR and further necessary action under law”.
In response to a question, the Deputy Commissioner didn’t rule out the possibility of more such scams surfacing in the district and said, “verifications and surprise inspections are going on into the allegations of pilferage of ration”, adding “a detailed enquiry is also going on into the ration being dispatched from the Udhampur to Kishtwar, Doda and Ramban districts”.
According to the sources, Minister for CAPD, Choudhary Zulfkar Ali has already issued directions to all the Deputy Commissioners to carry out frequent inspections so as to foil the attempts to pilferage the ration meant for the common masses. He has also issued directions for furnishing of details to the Deputy Commissioners about dispatch of ration so that they can monitor the arrival and distribution, which will help in curbing the pilferage and misappropriation.
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