Food officer lands in jail for stealing govt’s rice

Three people, including a government official, landed in Bogura jail yesterday, a day after being detained by police over embezzling 15,000kg government rice.

The three are Gazi Mohammad Shafiqul Islam, 42, officer-in-charge of Local Supply Deport (LSD) in Sabekpara of Gabtali upazila, Sadequl Islam, 40, night guard of the LSD, and Amzad Hossain, 48, a rice miller.

Acting on information that some people were selling government rice, a team of Gabtali police seized a truck loaded with 300 sacks of rice (each sack containing 50 kg) and detained the three in front of the Sabekpara LSD on Friday morning. The team later contacted officials of Anti-Corruption Commission in Bogura.

Yesterday, the ACC filed a case accusing the three of stealing the rice.

Wahid Munjour Sohag, deputy assistant director of Bogura ACC, said a local court sent the arrestees to jail yesterday afternoon after they were produced before it.

Meanwhile, two probe committees were formed on Friday to investigate the incident, said Bogura Food Controller SM Saiful Islam.

The committees were asked to submit their reports to the authorities concerned within three working days, he added.

Saiful said they recommended that the officer-in-charge of Sabekpara LSD should be suspended.