CBI is said to have registered three cases against officials of the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and Agricultural Marketing Committees of some districts in Andhra Pradesh for releasing payment to middlemen based on forged documents.
CBI sources said R Jeya Kumar, then Branch Manager of CCI in Guntur, Rayapati Purnachandra Rao, D Rajasekhar Reddy, G Varun Raghuveer -- all three cotton purchasers and CCI centre in-charges of Guntur Nandigama and Mylavarama have been named in the cases.
According to the CBI officials, the accused allegedly procured 11.75 lakh quintals; 9.07 lakh quintals and 3.13 lakh quintals of cotton on different occasions from middlemen instead of cotton growers or farmers at notified marketing yards of Agricultural Marketing Committees ( AMC) under Minimum Support Price operations during the crop season 2014-15. The officers in question also issued fake consolidated certificates to the effect that the cotton kapas were purchased from bona fide farmers at the marketing yards of their respective AMCs.
The CBI raided residences and office premises of the accused at 18 places including Guntur, Krishna, West Godavari and Prakasam Districts in Andhra Pradesh and also in Tamil Nadu, and found several documents supporting the allegations.
Cotcorp.gov.in
