Karnal, Nov. 5 -- Police have registered an FIR at the Karnal City Police Station against grain market secretary Asha Rani, Rajendra Kumar, Amit Kumar and Ajay Kumar, based on a complaint from mandi board district manager (DMEO) Ishwar Singh, for irregularities during paddy procurement under Section 318(4) of the BNS. This is the third FIR in a series of cases of paddy procurement irregularities in which, earlier, two criminal cases were filed against a rice mill, a mandi secretary, four mandi inspectors and a sub-inspector. Officials said that action was taken following a district-wise porbe ordered by Karnal deputy commissioner Uttam Singh after irregularities were found in the issuance of gate passes during the ongoing procurement. Citing a letter from the additional deputy commissioner's office, the FIR stated that a random investigation into the issuance of gate passes at the Karnal grain market revealed irregularities. "The investigation found that some gate passes were issued to IP addresses outside the Karnal market. The mobile numbers associated with these gate passes included those of Rajendra Kumar from Indri, Amit Kumar of Jundla, and Ajay Kumar of Narukhedi. Since irregularities were found in the issuance of gate passes, the involvement of market committee officials cannot be ruled out," the letter said. The FIR also states that the market committee secretary is responsible for ensuring proper procurement arrangements at the grain market and has failed to perform her duties. "Furthermore, credible information suggests that secretary Asha Rani hired private individuals to issue gate passes. Therefore, a thorough investigation into the matter is necessary," it added. Officials said that the cyber cell in-charge has also recommended a detailed investigation into the irregularities. Following the case, farmer activist Bahadur Mehla demanded that the officials in this case and two registered earlier, should be arrested immediately. Similarly, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) state president Ratan Mann criticised the government for the "multi-crore paddy scam", stating that it was completely under political patronage....