45 warehouses in Punjab and Haryana were raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation late Thursday night seizing samples of rice and wheat stocks. The CBI search operations are being carried out with the help of paramilitary forces. The godowns being charged include those belonging to the Punjab Grains Procurement Corporation (PUNGRAIN), Punjab Warehousing, and a few of the Food Corporation of India (FCI).
In Punjab 9 godowns were raided in Ludhiana, one each in Mansa and Kapurthala, while in Haryana search was carried out in facilities in Shahbad and Sirsa.
A CBI spokesperson in a statement said, "CBI teams are checking the quality and quantity of Central pool food grain stocks stored in these godowns. Samples of Central pool stocks of wheat and rice about crop year 2019-20 and 2020-21 stored in these godowns have been drawn.”
As per the sources, the stockists at FCI’s Mansa warehouse had got the paddy from Bihar and UP to deliver it to the Centre but were selling the good quality grains in the open market.
The CBI doubt a racket and are also probing that the FCI officials might be involved in the racket of supplying low standard rice at large scale.
Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution, had recently said in an interview that the government will soon be doing quality checks of procured grains.
The CBI search operations come in the wake of high tension between the farmers and the Centre at the borders of Delhi after the Red Fort riots and protesting farmers have been asked to vacate the protest sites
On the other hand, 25 FIRs have been filed by the Delhi police against farmer leaders for breaching the tractor rally agreement and indulging in violent acts and asked them to explain why legal actions should not be taken against them.