Calcutta, Oct. 29: Rice worth Rs 54 lakh, stocked illegally to be sold in the black market, has been scooped out of a Consumer’s Co-operative Federation (Confed) godown.

Enforcement branch officers probing a paddy procurement scam that could run into several hundred crores found the rice in South 24-Parganas’ Baruipur last week.

“Our officers raided the Confed godown and seized 500 tonnes of rice. This is the first time we have got hold of such a huge unauthorised stock since the scam was detected,” enforcement branch additional director-general Bhupinder Singh told The Telegraph.

The rice should have gone to ration shops.

The godown secretary is absconding. “Raids are being conducted across Bengal. Confed officials, in collusion with Food Corporation of India and district co-operative officers and rice mill owners forged papers to show higher paddy and rice stocks,” Singh added.

Food minister Paresh Adhikary admitted that a section of his department was involved in the scam. He had last month ordered an internal probe.

Police stumbled on the pilferage in August. Investigations revealed that government officials had colluded with mill owners to deny farmers the minimum support price. Paddy was procured at Rs 400 a quintal, instead of Rs 590 as promised by the government.

“We are now collecting papers relating to this year’s paddy procurement,” said Adhikary. He has taken up with cooperation minister Rabin Ghosh the alleged involvement of Confed employees in the scam.

Confed procures paddy on behalf of the FCI from farmers at prices fixed by the government and sends it to mills where it is processed into rice. The rice goes to FCI warehouses on the way to ration shops.

Figures about rice stocks were fudged when starvation deaths were making news headlines in the state. In August, Anchala Pramanick, 45, died in West Midnapore after living on water for a week. Hundreds there live on a single meal.