NOB- Kakinada news: The illegal smuggling of poor people’s rice (PDS) is not being stopped. It continues to be smuggled abroad through Kakinada Port. Kakinada District Collector Shan Mohan conducted surprise inspections at the anchorage port here on 27.11.2024. 640 metric tons of poor people’s rice were identified on the ship Stella L, which was ready to go to West Africa. These searches were carried out from 11 am to 3.30 pm on 27.11.2024. The Collector sailed for an hour in the sea from the barge parking area. A team of police, port, marine, revenue and civil supplies reached the area where the ship ‘Stella-L’ was located. Samples of rice stored in five rooms (hatches) of the ship were collected. They went down into rooms 3 and 5 and inspected the stocks directly. Those that were suspicious were tested with chemicals on the spot. The collector told reporters that 38 thousand tons of rice were loaded on the ship with a capacity of 52 thousand tons. Out of which, 640 tons were found to be PDS rice. He said that the poor people’s rice seized by the Civil Supplies Minister Nadendla Manohar was recently released with a bank guarantee. It seems that the seized rice stocks are still there. The remaining stocks there are said to be boiled rice. It was revealed that a decision will be taken after checking the receipts on the PDS rice. Inspections have been going on for the last 2 days with information about illegal rice smuggling centered around Kakinada. Although officials say that the rice seized in the searches was for the poor, there is no complete clarity on the irregularities. State Civil Supplies Corporation Chairman Sudheer conducted surprise inspections at the godown in Karapa mandal’s Kadakuduru on 26.11.2024 night and seized rice in five lorries. It was found that PDS rice was present in a lorry from Telangana and samples were sent for testing. On 28.11.2024, searches were conducted at the port under the supervision of the collector. Although it is believed that the rice seized in both these places was for the poor that was recently released with a bank guarantee, there are suspicions that the goods are being moved under that guise. On 27.11.2024 night, officials found 1,064 tonnes of rice in the barge IV0073, which was going to load rice onto a ship that exports rice to foreign countries from Kakinada port. These were found to belong to Lavan and Sai Teja Exports. They said that if samples of these are tested, there are signs of PDS. They say that they are PDS reserves that were recently released with a bank guarantee, and a decision will be taken after examining the documents, said DSO Prasad.