Hyderabad: Two individuals were arrested on Thursday in connection with the illegal procurement and resale of Public Distribution System (PDS) rice and wheat in the city. The Commissioner’s Task Force West Zone team, in coordination with civil supplies officials, seized 2.5 tons of PDS grains during a raid in Gouthampuri Colony, Sulthan Nagar, Erragadda.
The arrested have been identified as Rajashekar Vaddi (39), a car driver from Erragadda, and Shaik Shareef alias Babbu (41), a former ration shop worker now running a dry cleaning business in Kollur.
According to police, Shareef used his prior connections with ration dealers to collect subsidised grains. The accused procured rice from PDS dealers who bought it from the public at ₹10/kg and resold it to Rajashekar at ₹14/kg. Rajashekar then sold it to local tiffin centres and restaurants at ₹18/kg. Shareef earned ₹1 per kg as commission for facilitating the deals.
The seized material includes 25 bags (1.2 tons) of PDS wheat and 26 bags (1.3 tons) of PDS rice, all in 50 kg sacks. Two mobile phones were also confiscated.
The operation was conducted under the supervision of Inspector Ch. Yadander and Sub-Inspector G. Naveen of the West Zone Task Force, along with civil supplies officials from Circle-VII, Khairatabad.