PDS scam: Chhattisgarh govt sets up probe team headed by Kalluri

Raipur, Jan 9: The Chhattisgarh government on Tuesday set up a 12-member SIT led by controversial police officer S R P Kalluri to probe the Public Distribution System (PDS) scam of the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government.

The alleged scam was exposed in February, 2015 when ACB and EOW sleuths conducted simultaneous raids at 25 premises of Chhattisgarh State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited and residences of its officials.

During the raid, a 113-page diary (in which names of beneficiaries of the scam were mentioned) was allegedly recovered.

The Congress claimed that the scam was worth Rs 36,000 crore and during the election campaign it accused former chief minister Raman Singh of being involved in it. It said then that it would open an investigation into the issue if it was voted to power.

The scam pertains to alleged disbursement of rice and salt samples found unfit for human consumption in 2014 by certain officers. In all, 254 samples lifted from across the state were found to be unfit. The ACB, which investigated the case, recovered dairies which list payments allegedly made to certain officials and politicians whose names are in code.

In 2015, a public interest litigation was filed by Sudeep Shrivasatva in the Chhattisgarh high court demanding an SIT investigation. Shrivastava claimed ACB did not name the actual beneficiaries of the scam.

With the announcement of a 12-member SIT into the PDS scam, the stage in Chhattisgarh is set for a second round of confrontation between the Congress and the BJP, after the recent Assembly elections.