New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will investigate an alleged Rs 700-crore fraud in the Sheep Rearing Development Scheme (SRDC) in Telangana under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The Central Agency’s Deputy Director, Magimai Arockaraj, wrote a letter to the Managing Director of Telangana State Sheep and Goat Development Cooperative Federation Ltd on June 11, asking for information about the scheme, according to a News18 report.
What the ED asked for?
- District-wise details of all beneficiaries of the scheme.
- Details of the sellers from whom the sheep were purchased.
- Details of bank accounts from which the disbursement of the funds was made by TSSGDCFL to the district authorities and further to the bank accounts of beneficiaries.
- Payments made to the transport agencies along with details of vehicles used by these agencies for the transport of sheep in respective districts.
- District-wise details of the sheep feed procured and subsequent supply of the sheep feed to the beneficiaries and others.
Former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao launched the sheep distribution scheme in 2017. Through it, sheep were distributed among traditional shepherd communities, the Kurumas and Yadavas at a subsidised rate.
What is the scam?
The scam came to light four months ago when the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) found inflated invoices for transporting sheep. The full scale of the alleged scam was unearthed this month when the ACB found irregularities of Rs 700 crore in implementing the scheme. The investigative agency believes the fraud was carried out through a network of brokers.
A few arrests have already been made in the case. Sabavath Ramchander, Chief Executive Officer of Telangana State Livestock Development Agency, and Gundamaraju Kalyan Kumar, former OSD to the then Minister for Animal Husbandry Talasani Srinivas Yadav, were arrested for colluding with private parties and neglecting their duties, the report added.