Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has registered an FIR in connection with alleged misappropriation of Government paddy worth Rs 2.79 crore during 2023–24 custom milling season in Balaghat district. The accused include Abhishek Nishad (then Deputy Manager–Finance, Madhya Pradesh State Cooperative Marketing Federation (Markfed) Balaghat), Hirendra Singh Raghuvanshi (then District Marketing Officer, Markfed),

 

Vivek Tiwari (present District Marketing Officer, Markfed), Harish Kori (Deputy Manager–Finance, Markfed), Piyush Mali (then District Manager, Madhya Pradesh State Civil Supplies Corporation Balaghat), Durgesh Bais (Accountant–Finance, Civil Supplies Corporation) and rice mill operators Prakash Sachdev (Proprietor) and Sameer Sachdev (Operator) of Sachdev Rice Mill, Kosmi. The case came in light with a complaint by Milind Thakre alleging large-scale fraud in the name of custom milling of Government paddy.

 

During inquiry, two trucks belonging to Sachdev Rice Mill were intercepted on April 2, 2024, at Rajegaon Integrated Inter-State Check Post while transporting Government paddy towards Maharashtra. One truck was fined Rs 12,000 for overloading. Although officials noticed that the trucks were carrying paddy from Parsawada CAP to Kosmi mill under valid gate passes, investigators found no supporting records of such loading. Instead of filing an FIR, officials imposed a penalty of Rs 25,000 per truck after the mill operators claimed the vehicles had mistakenly reached the Maharashtra border. The probe revealed that the mill’s actual capacity of 4 metric tonnes per hour was inflated to 6 MT per hour in official records, enabling allocation of higher quantities.

 

Even after July 2024, 36 additional lots were allotted on the basis of the inflated capacity. Investigators also found that payments were cleared without verifying truck slips, gate passes, weighment slips, FASTag data, toll receipts or transport bills. Electricity consumption recorded by the mill was nearly half the prescribed requirement, suggesting possible diversion of paddy to Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. EOW has registered the FIR under relevant sections of the BNS 2023 and the Prevention of Corruption Act (Amended 2018) while further investigation is underway.