Police chief warns against illegal stockpiling of rice as prices shoot up

Police chief AKM Shahidul Hoque has warned rogue traders against creating an artificial crisis of rice by illegal hoardings amid an outcry over the spiralling prices.

"There are laws against stockpiling. Officials have been ordered to take steps if someone is found to be creating artificial crisis," the inspector general of police said on Monday. 

He took questions at a news conference after a meeting on law and order at the Police Headquarters in Dhaka.

The prices of rice started to rise again last month before the Eid-ul-Azha and a few months after another hike driven by the damage to crops in the floods.

Facing criticism, the government says there is no shortage of rice in the country and that some dishonest traders manipulated the market.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has ordered officials to act against such traders to stop the price of the staple food grain from skyrocketing.

The authorities raided several rice mills in Kushtia on Sunday in a drive against illegal stockpiling.

Last week, Bangladesh Rice Mill Owners' Association President Abdur Rashid was fined for illegally hoarding rice.