Hyderabad: The Central Bureau of Investigation conducted searches at various places in TS after registering three criminal cases against officials of the Cotton Corporation of India and other individuals for criminal misconduct, cheating and the use of a forged document.
The fraud was reported in the 2014-15 financial year. Cases were registered against officials working at various levels at CCI centres in Asifabad, Jainoor, Narnoor, Chinnur, Pochera and Neredigonda in TS.
According to the FIR registered by the CBI, the officials misused their position and violated the guidelines issued by their head office in regard to the purchase of cotton from farmers at minimum support price (MSP).
The officials, in collusion with other individuals, caused the government a loss of '1.68 crore. The CBI named CCI officials Sumit Subhash Rao Deshmukh, Mahesh Ramesh Rao Kitukale, Bais Rupesh Singh, K.V. Krishna Reddy, C.K. Bhatti and Rujawelt Bhagwan Sahare, 14 businesspersons. and farmers, and a few other persons as the accused in the FIR.
CBI teams, during a preliminary inquiry, found that the officials had violated several guidelines and offered prices much higher than the market price and MSP for the purchase of cotton from “farmers”.
They had bought large quantities of the cotton without verifying patta passbooks or the relevant land records. On Tuesday, CBI officials verified records at the CCI centre where the alleged fraud was reported and spoke to a few persons accused in the case. No arrests were made. The officials are still trying to figure out the documents of the individuals who colluded with the CCI staff to conduct the fraud.
