PD Act invoked against rice miller over ‘repeated custom-milled rice diversion’

The Preventive Detention Act was recently utilized to apprehend a rice miller from Dandepalli mandal in Mancherial district for allegedly repeatedly diverting custom-milled rice, causing a loss of approximately ₹15.14 crore to the State treasury, according to the police. The detention order was issued against Gampa Santosh Kumar, the managing partner of Ramalakshman Industries Rice Mill based in Lingapur village.

Two separate cases were filed against him at Dandepalli and Hajipur police stations in connection with the alleged diversion of custom-milled rice during the 2025 and 2026 rabi seasons, as reported by the police. According to the police, a total of 4,452 metric tonnes of custom-milled rice, belonging to the 2022-23 rabi and 2024-25 rabi seasons, remained unsold from the miller's inventory.

Santosh Kumar was taken into custody at the sub-jail in Luxettipet, where he was serving a remand sentence in a case registered under the Dandepalli police station. He was later transferred to Charlapalli Central Jail in Hyderabad.