Bhopal- In a significant development, the Mandsaur District Court of Madhya Pradesh has handed down sentences to 11 individuals involved in an 18-year-old ration scam case, amounting to over Rs 87 crore. Kishore Kumar Gehlot's special court delivered the verdict last Monday, sentencing four male and seven female accused to five and four years in jail, respectively. Each accused was also fined Rs 4 lakh 61 thousand. Notably, there were initially 16 accused in the case, with five of them having passed away.

The ration scam first came to light in 2002, and after a thorough investigation, the matter reached the court in 2005. The accused were found guilty of selling food items, including wheat, meant for those living below the poverty line under the Public Distribution System, in the open market.

The modus operandi of the scam involved the accused, including BJP leader Rajendra Singh Gautam and his wife, not distributing the ration to the intended recipients. Instead, they sold the allocated ration in the open market to merchant Jethanand Sindhi. The accused marked the sacks, originally designated for the Food Corporation of India, with VIP and other brands before selling them. These allegations were substantiated during the investigation.

The District Prosecution Media Cell in-charge, Deepak Jamra, explained that the scam was exposed on July 24, 2002, when police station in-charge Anil Singh Rathore received a tip from an informer. The informant revealed that Ramchandra Darak, an employee of the Cooperative Market in Mandsaur, was loading government wheat into a truck and selling it to Jethanand Sindhi in Virendra Jain's cleaning mill. The accused were profiting illegally by labelling government wheat as VIP brand in 50-50 kg packets. The police, acting on this tip, apprehended Jethanand Sindhi and Mushtaq on the spot, seized the truck loaded with wheat, and registered a case.

During the investigation, it was discovered that the accused, including BJP leader Rajendra Singh Gautam and his wife, engaged in financial irregularities amounting to Rs 87 crore 83 lakh 92 thousand 28 as part of the conspiracy. They embezzled Rs 35 lakh 83 thousand 596 by selling government wheat in the open market and misused their public service positions, resulting in a financial loss of crores of rupees to the government.

The court sentenced the following individuals in connection with the ration scam- Rajendra Singh Gautam (68), Mehmood father Ibrahim Mansoori (66), Ramchandra Darak (65), Najma husband Liaquat Hussain (52), Sheela Devi Sharma (62), Ramadevi Rathore (50), Rakhi Rathore (48), Malti Devi Soni (64), Yogesh Devi Gautam (66), Hema husband Hemant Kumar Hingad (57), and Hemant father Mishrilal Hingad (60).

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