In a joint raid, the police and the Civil Supplies department busted a racket involved in fake rice marketing in the district on Thursday.
The racket was found to have been involved in smuggling in Tamil Nadu ration rice, and marketing it after polishing it in mills here and rebranding it.
The police and Civil Supplies officials seized nearly three tonnes of Tamil Nadu ration rice from the house of A. Shameer, 33, at Walayar. He is the treasurer of DYFI Walayar zone. A case was registered against Shameer and his father Abdul Razak.
District Supply Officer J.S. Gokuldas said that their raid report would be handed over to the District Collector for further action.
Tip-off
The raid followed a tip-off, and the team led by sub-inspector Rajesh found 2,815 kg rice stocked in 56 sacks in a shed at Shameer’s house.
The police said Shameer and his friends were involved in smuggling in Tamil Nadu ration rice using trek paths. They would stock the rice in a godown and would transport it to a mill at Kanjikode for polishing. They would repack the rice and sell it as Palakkad rice with a new brand.
The police said they were involved in rice smuggling for the last 10 years. The gang had appointed workers in different junctions to alert them when anyone comes for inspection. The police said they suspected the involvement of some people’s representatives and political party leaders in the racket.
