The police arrested two persons and seized seven tonnes of PDS rice and two luggage vans carrying the load on the outskirts of Gudupalle, close to Karnataka border, in the early hours of Sunday.
According to information, a police party acting on a tip-off about the movement of the vehicles towards Karnataka rushed to the border area and intercepted them. The arrested were identified as Babu and Prakash from Karnataka.
The seized vehicles were taken to the area police station at Gudupalle. The police registered a case and took up further investigation.
The police said that after procuring the PDS rice from the public in the rural areas at ₹10-₹15 a kg, the bulk stocks would be smuggled to Karnataka, where the rice would be sold to the hotel industry for a further price.
This is the second seizure by the Gudupalle police. Earlier this month, a huge consignment of PDS rice was seized under same jurisdiction.
