4 RPF cops suspended over theft of 288 PDS rice sacks

The stolen sacks of rice were being carried in a freight train from the godowns of Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation in Bargarh district to Jharkhand’s Ranchi.

Four policemen of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) have been suspended after nearly 300 sacks of rice meant for the public distribution system were stolen from a freight train in Odisha’s Jharsuguda district.

The stolen sacks of rice were found at an abandoned house near the Jharsuguda station.(HT file photo)

RPF’s director-general Arun Kumar suspended inspector LK Das, assistant sub-inspector SK Kumar, and havildars RV Thakur and D Baxla when they failed to register a case after 288 rice sacks were found stolen on January 8 from the Jharsuguda railway station, said a senior RPF official on Tuesday.

The stolen sacks of rice, which were being carried in a freight train from the godowns of Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation in Bargarh district to Jharkhand’s Ranchi, were found at an abandoned house near the Jharsuguda station.

The Government Railway Police, which recovered the sacks from the house and arrested three people, had informed senior RPF officials about the suspicious role of the RPF officials on duty.