Six held with truckload of VGF rice in Bogra
They along with UP chairman sued for embezzling the item
Police arrested six people from second bypass at Matidali in Bogra Sadar upazila Thursday night on charge of illegally shifting 4,500 kg of rice meant for Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) before the Eid.
Shafiqul Islam, sub-inspector of Phulbari police out post, filed a case with Sadar Police Station the same night accusing the six arrestees and Abdul Momin, chairman of Gokul union parishad (UP) in Sadar upazila, also a BNP leader.
Informed that the UP chairman and his men were illegally shifting the 4500 kg of VGF rice in 90 sacks in a truck, police seized the vehicle with the rice and arrested the six people red-handed, police said.
The arrestees -- Saiful Islam, Bulu Mia, Moklesur Rahman, Rony Mia, Saju Ali and trucker Alam Mia of Chadmuha village under Bogra Sadar upazila were sent to jail on Friday while the chairman went into hiding.
The chairman and his men had been shifting the rice instead of distributing among the beneficiaries in the union, added the police.
Talking to the journalists, the accused claimed that they had bought the rice at Tk 14 per kg from the beneficiaries in the union but they could not show any evidence in this regard.
District relief and rehabilitation office sources said they allocated 257.72 tonnes of VGF rice for distribution among 25,772 poor people in Sadar upazila.
Abdul Momin, the accused UP chairman, could not be contacted as his cell phone remained switched off.
Police have been conducting drives to arrest the accused UP chairman as he committed a serious inhuman act, said Arifur Rahman Mondal, additional superintendent of police in Bogra.