Dist admin orders probe

By Our Reporter

 SHILLONG: A city court on Tuesday remanded to three-day police custody three persons arrested for allegedly trying to divert the Public Distribution System (PDS) rice on Monday, even as the East Khasi Hills administration has ordered an inquiry.

S inspector S Basaiawmoit will conduct the inquiry.

“I have directed Basaiawmoit to submit the report within three days,” East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Jopthiaw Lyngdoh said on Tuesday.

The trio — Henry Nonghuloo and Nand Kishore Agarwal and Nitesh Agarwal– tried to divert 180 bags of PDS rice worth approximately Rs 1.27 lakh meant for supply under PDS.

The Agarwals were the owners of the godown where the seized PDS rice was unloaded from the truck owned by Nonghuloo. Police have sealed the godown.

“Police sealed the godown after securing necessary permission from the court. We suspect there might be more PDS rice inside the godown,” SP (City) M Kharkrang said on Tuesday.

Stating that the seized rice was meant for a shop in Laitumkhrah, Kharkrang said the police would interrogate the owner of the shop L Surong.

He suspects involvement of more people in the racket.

Kharkrang said police filed a suo-moto FIR and registered a case under the Essential Commodities Act and Prevention of Corruption Act.

Nitesh and Kishore were also booked under Essential Commodities Act and Prevention of Corruption Act for trying to bribe police with Rs 20,000 during the operation, police said.

According to police, Henry Nonghuloo is the brother of Western Nonghuloo, a PDS-rice dealer who was also caught by the members of KSU’s of Khliehriat unit on November 15, 2010 while trying to divert the PDS rice to a non-tribal businessman at Sookilo in Jaintia Hills district.

The KSU members had seized 160 bags of rice from a truck (AS01-Q-8931). That quota of rice was also meant for distribution in Laitumkhrah.