Three Markfed officials at Abohar in Punjab’s Fazilka district were booked in a theft case on Tuesday evening following a “sting operation” conducted by a farmers’ union leader who disclosed that he had about 100 quintals of wheat for the Public Distribution System (PDS). was suspended and sued. Theft from a warehouse.
The incident took place in the godown of Markfed or Punjab State Co-op Supply and Marketing Federation Limited between Monday and Tuesday midnight.
According to Sukhjinder Singh Rajan, union leader of Bharatiya Kisan Union Rajewal, on Monday night, he and some farmers reached the warehouse of Markfed on the bypass of Abohar-Fazilka road and saw the warehouse open and a tractor trolley full of wheat. . It is said that loose wheat was loaded in a vehicle with a capacity of about 100 quintals of grain.
“I raised my voice and the tractor trolley driver tried to run me over. He managed to escape from the spot, but we chased him and managed to nab him. He was taken to the police station and the tractor trolley was also seized,’ said Rajan.
A case was registered against Avi Kumar Manchand, Field Officer (General), Chindarpal, driver Sher Singh and 7-8 unknown persons under Section 331(4) and 305(a) of the Indian Penal Code. Theft on government property.
‘We have arrested the driver and are investigating. We are collecting details of the total stock and the persons responsible for stock management,” said Manjinder Singh, Station House Officer, City 1 police station.
Manchand and Assistant Field Officer Steffy and Robin of Markfed were suspended on Tuesday evening. According to the suspension letter, they will be given subsistence allowance and will be reported to Markfed headquarters in Chandigarh.
A team from Markfed’s Chandigarh office came to Abohar on Wednesday afternoon to get information about the incident. The team was in the city while preparing this report.
‘It is surprising that there are no cameras installed inside the warehouse. There was very little light inside the barn…it must have been going on for a long time. We had information about this so we decided to conduct a sting operation and find out the truth,” Rajan added.
Sandeep Jakhar, the suspended Congress MLA from Abohar, took to X to comment on the incident. “Existing situation…with the help of police, Sukhjinder Singh and his team were caught stealing a tractor trolley of wheat for PDS at the Markfed godown in Abohar last night. Now the question is how long has this theft been going on, who is involved in it, what is the modus operandi and who cut everyone off and the biggest question is how this loss (which runs into tonnes) will be accounted for. ..multiply it by the number of godowns and wells…According to sources, this has been going on for some time…,” said Zakhar. Ask to do, somehow they missed this scam,” he added in the post.
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