The BJP Monday alleged that rice meant for poor beneficiaries under the Karnataka government’s Anna Bhagya scheme has been smuggled to other states and countries. The allegation came after the government admitted that 29.60 lakh kg of stolen PDS rice was seized during the 2025-26 financial year, and 461 FIRs were registered in relation to the seizures across the state.
BJP leader C T Ravi told the Legislative Council at Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi, “I have information that a 25 kg rice bag was costing Rs 8,000 in Singapore… I urge the government to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the matter.”
Minister for Food and Civil Supplies K H Muniyappa said 570 persons were arrested, and 314 vehicles were seized across Karnataka for illegally storing and selling government rice. “Two cases are presently being investigated by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), and there is no need to form an SIT,” he added.
In its response, the government also admitted that officials were involved in the theft. Muniyappa said, “In Yadgir, officials from other departments who were working have been relieved to their respective departments. In the Koppal case, the managing director of Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Limited has been suspended.”
Muniyappa also said that three persons were arrested in October for allegedly killing a journalist in the Bagalkot district. The victim, Basavaraj Khanagond, 40, a journalist, died after a lorry hit him while he was riding a two-wheeler. The probe revealed that Ashfaq, Nandishwara and Mahesh, who were allegedly a part of a syndicate that stole government rice, intentionally hit the victim. According to a police officer, Khanagond had sought a commission for the stolen rice, and the three eliminated him.
The demand for an SIT formation turned political after the IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge alleged that BJP workers were involved in siphoning off government rice in Yadgir and Koppal districts. The Opposition demanded that the statement be removed from the records.