Chhattisgarh: ED makes fresh arrest in rice milling ‘scam’

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it made a fresh arrest in the alleged Rs 175 crore Chhattisgarh rice milling scam case after taking into custody a former treasurer of the state rice millers association.

Roshan Chandrakar, himself a rice miller based at Kurud in Dhamtari district, was arrested on Wednesday.

“He was treasurer of the state rice millers association during the Kharif marketing Season 2021-22. During this tenure, an organised system of collection of illegal kickbacks from the rice millers was being operated,” the central agency alleged in a statement.

Last month, the ED had arrested Manoj Soni, a former Chhattisgarh MARKFED managing director, in this case.

The money laundering case stems from an Income-tax department charge sheet where it was alleged that the office bearers of Chhattisgarh rice millers association “colluded” with officers of the state marketing federation Ltd (MARKFED) and

hatched a “conspiracy” to misuse a special incentive and earn kickbacks worth crores

of rupees.