Punjab officials seize 17 trucks with paddy from Bihar

Chandigarh, Nov 1 (IANS) Officials of Punjab's food and supplies department on Thursday foiled another attempt to smuggle paddy bought at cheaper rates from Bihar to sell at higher prices in Punjab during the ongoing paddy procurement.

Officials seized 17 trucks carrying about 12,500 bags of paddy from Bihar at a petrol pump in Shambhu barrier near Rajpura, around 40 km from here, Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu said on Thursday.

Following a complaint lodged by the department, the Punjab Police have registered a case.

"It has been brought to my notice that, earlier in the day, 28 trucks of paddy/rice have come into Punjab through the same barrier," the Minister said.

In the past one month, the food and civil supplies department, through a series of raids, has unearthed nearly 2.5 lakh bags of paddy and 2 lakh bags of previous year's rice set to be pumped into Punjab during the kharif marketing season (2018-19).

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