ED Arrests Former MARKFED MD Manoj Soni In Chhattisgarh Rice Milling Scandal

The Enforcement Directorate announced on Wednesday that Manoj Soni, a former special secretary of the food department, has been arrested in relation to the agency’s investigation into the purported Rs 175 crore rice milling scam in Chhattisgarh.

“ED, Raipur has arrested Manoj Soni, the then MD MARKFED, one of the prime accused in the Custom Rice Milling Scam of Chhattisgarh on April 30,” the ED said.

Soni, who currently holds the position of special secretary at Mantralaya, was apprehended from the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) office, where he was summoned for interrogation regarding the rice scam case filed by ACB/EOW.

Soni was detained and brought before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Raipur, where the agency intends to request his custody for questioning. In a statement last year, the federal agency asserted that Rs 175 crore in bribes were purportedly generated through this scam for the “benefit of higher powers”.

“…in this process, corruption was done on a large scale and money was collected on the basis of per quintal. Various government officials misused their position and colluded with the rice millers and received undue benefits, causing financial loss to the government,” it said.

The agency previously stated in a release that its investigation originated from a complaint filed by the Income Tax Department in front of a court in Raipur. The complaint from the IT department asserted that members of the Chhattisgarh rice millers association purportedly “colluded” with officials of the state marketing federation Ltd (MARKFED) and “hatched a conspiracy to misuse the special incentive where Rs 40 per quintal of paddy was paid by the state government to rice millers for custom milling of rice”.