Odishatv Bureau

Sambalpur: The Supply department officials along with the local Tahasildar raided as many as five rice mills here on Monday and seized over 20,000 bags of paddy.

The seizure of paddy in such a quantity has come as a shocker for many as the official paddy procurement is yet to begin in the district.

According to reports, acting on a tip-off, a joint team comprising officials of the supply department said there should not be paddy stock in rice mills before the procurement.

The mill owners failed to explain from where they had procured the paddy when the procurement is scheduled on November 15.

"We had received complaints that some rice millers are procuring paddy at price less than the MSP from farmers.

Subsequently, as per the instruction of district collector, we conducted raids at 10 rice mills," said Debendra Nanda, Tahasildar of Sambalpur.

Of the 10 mills, 20,000 bags of paddy were found stacked in five during the raids conducted by officials of Civil Supply Department and Revenue Department, Nanda said.

"We have reported the matter to the district collector," he said adding that the rice mills would be show caused.

scrollToTop