Former BRS MLA booked in Rs 40.96 crore paddy case

Naik has been booked for the alleged misappropriation of paddy worth Rs 40.96 crore supplied by the state government

Hyderabad: Former Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA Ajmeera Rekha Naik was booked in connection with a case involving missing paddy worth Rs 40.96 crore on Wednesday, August 19.

Based on a complaint by Nirmal District Manager of Telangana State Civil Supplies Corporation, Satyanarayana, Naik, who is the owner of a rice mill titled “ARS Industries”, was booked for cheating under Section 318(4), 316(2), 316(5), and Section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, by the Khanapur police.

Naik has been booked for the alleged misappropriation of paddy worth Rs 40.96 crore supplied by the state government. The complaint stated that during verification, officials of the Civil Supplies Corporation noticed that government paddy entrusted to the rice mill was not available on its premises. The required custom-milled rice has also not been delivered to the government for three seasons.

According to a Deccan Chronicle report, 68,21,640 metric tonnes of paddy had been allotted to ARS Industries during the Rabi season in 2022-23, 7,430.840 metric tonnes during the Rabi season in 2023-24, and 2,413.640 metric tonnes during the Rabi season in 2024-25.

However, during physical verification, Civil Supplies officials noticed a shortage of a total of 9,639.962 metric tons of government paddy, whose value is estimated at Rs 40,96,96,847.