The CBI on Tuesday launched searches at 30 locations in Punjab as part of its probe into allegations of corruption against Food Corporation of India (FCI) officials who procured inferior grains to benefit merchants and rice millers, officials said.
The CBI teams started coordinated raids on the premises of grain merchants, rice mill owners, and serving and retired officials of the FCI in several districts of Punjab, including Fatehgarh Sahib and Moga, as part of ‘Operation Kanak 2’, they said. This is the second round of searches in the FIR pertaining to an organised syndicate of officers at the FCI, who allegedly charged bribes of Rs 1,000-4,000 per truck unloaded at the FCI godowns from private millers per crop season for covering up low-quality grains supplied by them and other favours.The bribes were allegedly circulated to officers in a well-defined percentage of cuts at each level, it alleged.
The FIR gave details of such bribe collection in many FCI depots across Punjab.
