In a strange case, several bags of wheat have been found buried on the premises of a government residential school in Tarikere taluk. The incident has prompted the Department of Social Welfare to initiate a probe.
Following a complaint, an order was issued to dig up the premises of Kittur Rani Chennamma Residential School at H. Rangapura in Tarikere taluk on Wednesday.
As the earthmovers began digging, the officials noticed bags of wheat buried about four feet below the ground level. The officers found more than 70 bags of wheat, reportedly supplied for the residential school. However, it is not clear when the bags were buried.
Background
The incident came to light following a complaint by S. Shivamurthy, vice-president of representative of Vishwamanava-Dr. Bheemarao Ambedkar Rakshana Vedike.
He, in his complaint to the district administration on March 13, alleged that several bags of wheat were illegally buried on the school premises. He had told the officers that he was ready to show the place where the bags were buried if a probe was ordered. The district administration formed a team official to look into the case. As part of the investigation, the bags were unearthed on Wednesday.
H.S. Keerthana, Chief Executive Officer of Chikkamagaluru Zilla Panchayat, said that the administration would investigate the case in detail and would find out why wheat bags were buried and who were involved in the activity.
“There are set procedures to handle unutilised food grains. Similarly, there are ways to dispose of food grains found not good for consumption. We will probe the case and take suitable action against the officials responsible,” the officer said.
