Some 216 sacks of government rice have been seized from a trader's warehouse in Kalihati upazila of Tangail. The rice was seized on Monday night from a store beside Elenga BM College. The warehouse owner, Forman Ali, was detained, fined Tk30,000 by a mobile court and released.

Police said the drive followed a tip-off and that the rice was recovered from the store of Forman Ali, a trader at Elenga bazar. He was detained and sent to the mobile court magistrate and the upazila nirbahi officer. Other traders connected with him fled the spot when they saw the police, according to local accounts.

The question locals are asking is how rice allocated to a government programme ended up in a trader's warehouse. Their allegation is that some dealers under the food-friendly programme, along with a section of dishonest union parishad representatives, quietly sell the allocated rice to wholesalers, who then store it.

The people who lose are the intended beneficiaries — the poor households enrolled in the food-friendly programme, who go without the rice they are entitled to.

Because the recovered sacks are marked with the name of the Directorate General of Food, residents have demanded a fuller investigation into where the rice came from and how it reached the store. They have also demanded that any dealer, public representative or other person involved be brought under the law.

Kalihati police station OC Kaiyum Khan Siddiqui said the government rice was recovered from the warehouse of a trader named Forman during a drive, and that he was detained. UNO Farzana Akter said the trader was fined Tk30,000 through a mobile court on Tuesday afternoon and the 216 sacks were seized.

Source: Samakal (Kalihati, Tangail correspondent)