Two more arrested in iron bloom smuggling scam

The Harbour Police on Saturday arrested two more accused in the iron bloom smuggling case and recovered cash of Rs. 2.5 lakh from them.

The police had busted the racket sometime ago and arrested six accused in the scam on a complaint filed by Srivalli Shipping & Transport Pvt. Ltd. With the arrest of Bathi Demudu and Bailapudi Gowtham, the number arrested persons in the scam has gone up to eight.

The police had arrested six along with a cash of Rs.4.06 lakh when they were trying to unload stock from a trailer and sell it to some others. Srivalli had bagged the contract for picking up stock from Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.

Company’s Managing Director P. Babu Rao told

The Hindu that they found something suspicious during stock verification and laid a trap to catch those involved in diverting stock from the port stockyard at the Convent Junction through the police.

He said by managing the drivers, the racketeers used to divert the stock from the trailers brought from Visakhapatnam Steel Plant by getting papers stamped that they had been unloaded at the stockyard.