Paddy Stolen From Procurement Centre For Lack Of Security In Odisha’s Nuapada

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Nuapada: Taking advantage of lack of protection measures, some miscreants have reportedly looted several bags of paddy from a procurement centre in Odisha’s Nuapada district.

According to sources, the farmers had kept their harvested paddy in sacks at the procurement centre of Gandamer Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society (PACS) in Komna block of the district. The paddy would have been sold on a latter date. But they found 10 bags missing from the PACS centre on Monday.

One of the farmers said they were forced to keep their produce in the open as the PACS centre did not have any storage facility nor any protection measures. “I was issued the token to sell the paddy on December 2. I had kept 26 bags of my produce in the centre on Friday. But today I found several bags missing,” he added.

Another farmer, who claimed that he had also lost many bags of paddy, said though the district collector had assured them that a CCTV camera would be installed at the procurement centre, it has not been carried out till date.

On the other hand, Bhaktacharan Bisi, an employee of the regulated market committee, said they had appointed a guard to keep a watch on the paddy. Though he claimed to be doing duty, he could not confirm whether the paddy packets were stolen or not, Bisi added.