West-Africa bound cargo ship Stella L Panama anchored at Kakinada Anchorage Port on November 29. | Photo Credit: BY ARRANGEMENT
KAKINADA
West-Africa bound cargo ship Stella L Panama has been seized with 38,000 metric tonnes of rice at Kakinada Anchorage Port four days after Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan ordered to seize it for alleged illegal export of rice supplied through Public Distribution System (PDS) from Kakinada coast.
On November 29, Mr. Pawan Kalyan ordered officials to seize the ship anchored at the government-owned Kakinada Anchorage Port, where he alleged that officials concerned did not cooperate with him to board the ship to inspect the rice loaded in it.
Seized
Speaking to newsmen at a press conference in Kakinada on Tuesday (December 3), District Collector S. Shan Mohan said: “Stella L Panama has been seized for further inspection. The inspection aims at confirming the total quantity of PDS rice loaded for the export and trace the details of the exporter(s).“
A five-member team has been constituted to inspect the ship. The team consists of the officials from the Customs, Anchorage Port, Police, Revenue and Civil Supplies.
“We have found that 640 MTs of rice loaded in the ship was supplied through the PDS. We will verify two facts during the inspection of the ship — whether the 640 MTs of rice was the same that was seized in June and was it the same PDS rice that was released for export based on the bank guarantee given by the exporter,” said Mr. Shan Mohan.
Further, the entire 38,000 MTs of rice loaded in the ship would be verified during the inspection, which would be completed within three days, the District Collector added.