A wholesale grain dealer in Maharashtra's Thane city was arrested for allegedly hoarding food grains and selling them in the black market, police said on Thursday.
Jitubhai Virji Thakkar, who had been evading the police, was arrested on Monday night, an official said.
The police at Wadiware of Nashik has booked Thakkar and 13 others under relevant sections of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, Essential Commodities Act and Indian Penal Code, he said.
Between 2011 and 2015, the accused had misappropriated food grains from government godowns in Ambad and Nashik and sold them in the black market, he said.
Produce worth Rs 178 crore was misappropriated by the racket, an official from Wadiware police station said, adding that the accused also floated fake firms for storing and transporting the grains.
Thakkar had allegedly stored the produce obtained from Nashik in godowns at different locations across Thane district, the official said.
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