Operation Kanak: CBI FIR shows how corruption runs from bottom to top in FCI

According to the FIR registered on January 10 in Delhi, the FCI personnel on the ground level charge Rs 4,000 for each truck loaded with substandard food grain stored in private rice mills and warehouses to be procured by the corporation’s officials in Punjab.

The FIR states, “Out of the bribe money, Rs 200 is for the General Manager, Rs 50 for each 4 Deputy General Manager (DGMs), Rs 20 for the Research Officers (ROs) in the laboratories, and Rs 100 for the Executive Director posted in FCI, headquarters, in Delhi. This distribution was for the trucks loaded with substandard grains each at the cost of Rs 1,050”.

It adds, “In the case of Rs 4,000 bribe for each truck, the bribe share was divided as per Rs 100 for a munim (storekeeper) at depot level, Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,050 for the central pool, which was mentioned above, Rs 1,000 for the Quality Officer, Rs 200 for the local expenses and remaining Rs 1,600 to Rs 1,700 to be kept by the Technical Assistant (TA) for himself”.

Sudeep Singh, Executive Director, FCI, Delhi, and his wife, Amritpreet Kaur, are the senior most FCI official named in the FIR registered under Section 7,8,9,10 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, 1988, and Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Ravinder Singh Khera, who is in CBI custody, along with two others, including Mehar Singh and Bittu Khullar, delivered Rs 10 lakh to ED Sudeep Singh at his residence in Delhi for not blacklisting their firms on July 27, 2022. Later, Mehar Singh transferred Rs 5 lakh to the bank account of Amritpreet Kaur. They had also delivered an Apple watch worth Rs 49,800 to Sudeep Singh.

A CBI officer said, “The scam has been going on throughout Punjab for a long period. As per the preliminary investigation, private rice millers and grain merchants were paying bribes to FCI officials for getting favours in accommodating procurement of low-quality food grains, malpractices in day-to-day operations in the unloading of food grains, managing inquiries against various malpractices etc”.

“These low-quality, substandard food grains are later transported throughout the country. The bribe amount varied from time to time. So far, we have recovered around Rs 1 crore from the houses of many of the suspects. The recovered amount is unaccounted for,” the official added.

Hub of tainted rice mills, food grain stores

At least 33 tainted agricultural and rice mills and food grain warehouses out of the 35 are located in Punjab’s Sangrur district. These private firms paid hefty bribe amounts to FCI officials to not blacklisted them over the allegation of procuring substandard and poor-quality grains.

Sources said owners of most of the rice mills and food grain stores are well connected and have been dealing with FCI officers for a long time.