Two personnel interdicted over missing paddy stocks

In view of an incident in which 700,000 kg of paddy stocks were reported missing from two state-owned paddy depots in Kurunegala District, two personnel have been interdicted today (30), according to the Chairman of the Paddy Marketing Board (PMD).

The PMB Chairman estimates that the missing stocks are valued between Rs. 65 and Rs. 70 million.

After receiving multiple complaints about this from the PMB Personnel, last week, the Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera has requested an urgent report within three days regarding the purported occurrence of rice stocks disappearing from five Government attached paddy stores in Kurunegala District.

Accordingly, they have notified the Minister about the involvement of some individuals from the regional offices and the PMB Head Office in the removal of the said paddy stockpiles.

In addition, Minister Amaraweera had stated that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Police will conduct a thorough investigation regarding the incident.