A major fraud has been unearthed in the paddy procurement operations of Karnal district, with investigators discovering a network of 'ghost trucks' used to siphon off government stocks. A Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing alleged irregularities during the 2025-26 paddy procurement season, has made a startling revelation.
The Phantom Fleet: How the Scam Worked
The investigation found that official records listed 118 trucks as having transported paddy from the Karnal grain market to various rice mills. However, upon physical verification and tracking, the actual locations of these vehicles were found to be completely different from where they were supposedly operating. In essence, these trucks existed only on paper, creating a phantom logistics chain to cover up the misappropriation of paddy.
Deep Dive into the 2025-26 Procurement Season
The SIT is specifically looking into the procurement activities that took place in Karnal district. The scam, which involved fabricating transportation records, points to a sophisticated attempt to divert paddy meant for the public distribution system. The discrepancy was flagged when physical checks failed to match the extensive digital and paper trail created for these non-existent truck movements.
This method allowed the perpetrators to show that paddy had been legally moved from procurement centers to mills, while in reality, the grain may have been diverted elsewhere. The scale of the fraud, indicated by the high number of 118 bogus trucks, suggests significant potential losses to the state exchequer and a direct impact on the food supply chain.
Implications and Ongoing Investigation
The exposure of this ghost truck scam raises serious questions about oversight in the procurement process. It highlights vulnerabilities that can be exploited to commit large-scale agricultural fraud. The SIT's findings, updated as of 2:00 AM on January 2, 2026, are a crucial step in unraveling the full extent of the corruption.
Authorities are now expected to trace the financial trail and identify the officials, mill owners, and transporters involved in creating and authorizing these false records. The case underscores the need for stricter real-time monitoring and GPS-based verification of transport vehicles in government procurement operations to prevent such scams in the future.
