Local BNP Official Placed in Police Custody Over Relief Rice Row

A local politician belonging to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has been taken into police custody in Kaptai upazila under Rangamati district following public fury over allegations that relief rice intended for flood victims was being diverted for private sale.

The official, identified as Abul Hasem Member, currently serves as the acting president of the Chandraghona Union BNP and is a former Union Parishad member. He was cornered by local residents on Thursday afternoon in the Refugee Para area under Raikhali Union before officers were summoned to secure the scene.

According to police accounts and reports from residents, locals intercepted Hasem on suspicion that he was quietly attempting to sell government-allocated relief grain to local shopkeepers instead of distributing it among families affected by recent severe flooding. Outraged by the perceived misappropriation, a crowd surrounded the politician, blocked his transport, and notified the local police station.

A police detachment from Chandraghona Police Station arrived shortly afterwards and took Hasem into custody alongside his vehicle driver, 40-year-old Chayan Barua. Officers confiscated a local four-wheel-drive vehicle—commonly referred to as a Chander Gari bearing registration Dhaka-Metro-G-06-0030—and seized two sacks of relief rice discovered inside.

S.M. Saker, Officer-in-Charge of Chandraghona Police Station, verified the detention on Thursday evening, noting that residents claimed to have caught the politician in the act of selling the relief supplies. The police chief explained that local leadership of the BNP had been informed of the situation and that formal inquiries were underway to determine the facts of the case.

Offering a different version of events, Kaptai Upazila BNP President Lokman Ahmed dismissed the allegations as a misunderstanding. He maintained that relief grain allocated by the Hill District Council had already been distributed to flood-stricken families as intended. According to Ahmed, the two sacks of rice seized by police were given to the driver merely to cover transportation costs rather than being offered for illegal sale. Party representatives are currently liaising with law enforcement to resolve the matter.

The incident underscores the intense public scrutiny surrounding relief distribution operations across the Chittagong Hill Tracts, where communities affected by natural disasters demand transparency and prompt accountability from local representatives handling essential aid.