Chhattisgarh cracks down on paddy procurement fraud: 31 officials suspended, FIRs in three districts

RAIPUR: Amid the ongoing Kharif 2025–26 paddy procurement season, Chhattisgarh govt has suspended 31 officials and employees and taken punitive action against seven others across 12 districts following large-scale complaints of irregularities—ranging from fake procurement to illegal deductions from farmers.According to a govt statement issued on Thursday, the action spans districts including Durg, Bemetara, Kabirdham, Bilaspur, Janjgir-Champa, Raigarh, Sakti, Jagdalpur, Raipur, Gariaband, Mahasamund and Balodabazar-Bhatapara.One employee has been dismissed, two have been removed from service, one has been relieved of duty, and FIRs have been lodged against three officials for fraud, shortages and policy violations, the statement said. The violations flagged during inspections include: fake or fraudulent paddy procurement, shortage of stock during physical verification, purchase of substandard paddy, purchase without arrival slips, token irregularities, unauthorised procurement on holidays, baradana (gunny bag) distribution fraud ollegal extortion from farmers.In Durg district, multiple committee managers and procurement officials—including Saurabh Yadav (Jeet centre), Shekhar Singh Kashyap (Godhi), Devdatta Patel (Khilorakala), Sewaram Patel (Kanharpur) and others—were suspended after discrepancies in stock were detected.In Bemetara, four officials were suspended for procuring poor-quality paddy, and Assistant Manager Umesh Kumar Sahu was suspended and booked for fake procurement.In Kabirdham, manager Anil Bajpai of the Kukdur centre was suspended and an FIR lodged after shortages were revealed during physical verification. In Chapora, procurement in-charge Naresh Yadav was suspended over irregularities in gunny-bag distribution.In Bilaspur, procurement centre in-charge Kamiram Khunte faces an FIR after 920 bags of paddy were found missing. Janjgir-Champa suspended three staffers for accepting paddy arrivals on a holiday and booked a computer operator for token manipulation.In Raipur district, clerk-operator Rakesh Jangde from Nardahra centre was dismissed for allegedly extorting money from farmers. In Mahasamund, FIRs have been registered against centre in-charges in Pirdha and Singhbahal.Across districts, action includes suspensions in Jagdalpur, Gariaband and Balodabazar for disorderly procurement, policy breaches and stock discrepancies.Massive action in Mungeli: 14 rice mills sealed, 12,000 quintals seizedIn a parallel crackdown, Mungeli district authorities sealed 14 rice mills and seized over 12,000 quintals of paddy after uncovering huge irregularities in custom milling.A special joint team of the revenue, police and food departments conducted raids based on alerts generated by the State Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC), which tracks paddy-movement vehicles through GPS.