Congress leaders in Kothagudem and Mulugu districts have been booked or arrested in separate custom milled rice diversion cases. Police are investigating the alleged diversion of rice worth crores, while a political party has demanded immediate action
Published Date – 2 November 2026, 08:23 PM
Kothagudem/Mulugu: The booking of cases against Congress leaders in the diversion of custom milled rice (CMR) cases in Kothagudem and Mulugu districts has been raising many eyebrows.
In Kothagudem the three-town police have registered a case against a key Congress party leader, Alla Murali Gopalakrishna, who is said to be the follower of Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, for diverting custom milled rice worth Rs 6.90 crore.
According to sources, on October 28 a team led by Civil Supplies Corporation district manager, Trinath Babu conducted an inspection at Srija Rice Merchants, a rice mill owned by Murali and partner, Anjanamma at Medarabasti, Kothagudem.
It was said that around 2,600 metric tonnes of paddy was handed over to the rice mill, which was required to process it and hand over the rice to the government. The officials during inspection found that nearly 1750 metric tonnes of rice was missing.
Upon finding the rice missing the civil supplies officials lodged a complaint with the three-town police, who registered a case under relevant sections against Murali; his partner and initiated an investigation.
Murali was also accused of diverting rice in 2021 and 2022 and recently paid Rs 2 crore in connection with those incidents. Similarly a case was registered against Venkateswara Rice and Flour Mill at Aswapuram for diverting 637 metric tonnes of rice worth Rs 2.68 crore.
Jai Bhim Rao Bharat Party (JBP) state working president Y Kamesh demanded that the State government immediately arrest Congress leader Alla Murali. The party workers staged a protest in front of the collectorate on Monday in support of the demand.
In Mulugu, a few days ago Telangana Crime Investigation Department (CID) officials arrested a local Congress leader Badam Praveen, who happens to be the former president of the Mulugu District Rice Millers Association, in connection with the CMR diversion case.
Similarly the CID officials also arrested four persons Katragadda Satish, Katragadda Sudheer, Edunuri Venkata Reddy and Repala Satyanarayana in the district while 11 millers facing similar cases were absconding.
