AL man held for selling rice for poor

A ruling Awami League leader in Jamalpur, also a government-appointed  dealer of the "rice at Tk 10 per kg" programme, was arrested yesterday  for selling rice on the black market.

Law enforcers also recovered over 4 tonnes of misappropriated rice in Jamalpur and Mymensingh on Monday.

In  the wake of widespread allegations of irregularities over rice meant  for the poor, law enforcers and admin officials continue drives against  those involved in the irregularities.

Since March 30, they have  recovered over 318 tonnes of rice, 5 tonnes of sugar, 8,048 litres of  edible oil, and 25 sacks of chickpea from different districts. Besides,  56 persons were arrested in this connection, according to media reports.

In  Jamalpur's Baksiganj upazila, Rab recovered 710 kg of the government's  "rice at Tk 10 per kg" programme meant for the poor from a house at  Battajor Natun Bazar on Monday evening.

Abdul Munnaf, general  secretary of Battajor union unit AL, was appointed by the government to  sell the rice in the union at Tk 10 a kg.

But he sold the rice on  the black market. Abul Kalam, ward-6 councillor of Baksiganj  municipality, purchased the rice, said Shafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge  of Baksiganj Police Station.

A case was filed against the two, the OC said, adding that Munnaf was arrested yesterday.

In  another incident, police seized 3.35 tonnes of such rice from a shop at  Bhutiarkona Bazar in Mymensingh's Gouripur on Monday night.

Acting  on a tip-off, police raided the shop around 11:00pm and recovered the  rice. But the shop owner managed to flee, said Borhan Uddin Khan, OC of  Gouripur Police Station.

Our Mymensingh and Jamalpur correspondents contributed to this report.