Chennai , Dec 14( BPNS )
The Tamil Nadu police have increased the strength of police squads in Western Tamil Nadu to prevent extensive smuggling of Public Distribution System (PDS) rice from the state.
Police team are strengthened in Krishnagiri , Dharmapuri ,Namakkal , Erode , Salem , Tiruppur , The Nilgiris and Coimbatore as maximum smuggling is taking place from these districts.
According to the state police more that 1750 tonnes of PDS rice were seized from smugglers in Western Tamil Nadu during this year . 27 people were booked under Goonda Act and more than 500 vehicles deployed for smuggling were seized.
The number of cases registered are also high compared to the previous year with 2231
cases registered this year while 1798 cases were registered in 2021.
Police have deployed two special squads at Pollachi and Krishnagiri to prevent PDS rice smuggling as the volume of smuggling is highest from Krishnagiri district of the state .
In addition to PDS rice , Kerosine is also smuggled in large volumes from the Western belt of Tamil Nadu to bordering states like Kerala , Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh .
Recently a truck load of PDS rice from Coimbatore was seized at Walayar check post in Palakkad, Kerala. On interrogation it was revealed that the rice was meant for rice mills in Kerala and local leaders of a prominent political party in Kerala were protecting the smuggling gangs.
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