AURANGABAD: The Nanded police have busted an inter-state racket involved in illegal diversion of grains from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to a private company. Ten people have been arrested.

The police received a tip-off about the alleged siphoning of grains, which were meant to be distributed through the public distribution system to the poor and marginalised sections of society through fair price shops.

The raid, which started on Wednesday morning, lasted till late Thursday. The police seized 10 trucks carrying FCI wheat from a food park in the Krushnur area of Nanded district . They also found over 6,000 bags of wheat belonging to Punjab, MP and Maharashtra governments stashed in different places in a godown on the premises of a mega agro-processing company in the food park.

The food park, spread over 50 acres, is owned by the son-in-law of a sitting Shiv Sena MLA. Acase has been registered against the owner of the company, its manager, transporters and others under sections 420 (cheating) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. The police arrested 10 truck drivers, who were remanded in magisterial custody. The police said the food park owner and manager were on the run.

