500 Tons of Rice in Bulog Warehouse Disappear, 5 Witnesses Examined by Pinrang Police

Illustration of two workers lifting Bulog rice to be transferred to a truck in the warehouse of Bulog Panaikang, Makassar, South Sulawesi. ANTARA/Darwin Fatir

MAKASSAR - The Resort Police of Pinrang Regency, South Sulawesi is still carrying out investigations and developments by examining five witnesses related to the loss of 500 tons of rice at the Bulog Bittoeng warehouse, Lampa, Pekkabata District.

"In the meantime, we are conducting an examination of the witnesses first. And only five people have provided clarifications", said Pinrang Police Criminal Investigation Unit Head, AKP Muhalis, as reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, November 22.

Until now, only five witnesses from the Bulog side and their partners have been examined by investigators to be asked for information regarding the disappearance of the 500 tons of rice in the Bulog Pinrang warehouse.

"It is only being investigated by Bulog, including their partners, for the disclosure process in this case", he said.

From the information that developed, the case of the theft of 500 tons of rice was allegedly sold by Bulog insiders without going through official procedures to one of their partners. This alleged misappropriation has been going on for two months since September 2022.

It is known, this case was revealed after checking the amount of stock stored in the warehouse after being recorded, only 1,656,850 tons were left in the two storage warehouses.

In fact, initially in the administrative report recorded stock stored as much as 2,119,900 tons. The details, in Warehouse 1 as many as 880,500 tons and warehouse 2 as much as 1,234,400 tons. That is, there is a loss of 462, 50 kilograms or nearly 500 tons.

Separately, the head of the Bulog Regional Office for South and West Sulawesi, Bakhtiar, when confirmed, stated that he had removed the head of the Bulog warehouse in Bittoeng, Lampa, Pinrang Regency, Muhammad Idris, and the head of the Bulog Pinrang Sub-Branch, Radytio W Putra Sikado.

These two Pinrang Bulog officials are considered responsible for the incident.

Bakhtiar said that they participated in assisting the police in collecting evidence and data related to the disclosure of the case, allegedly by people inside Bulog.

"Currently, the audit process and coordination with the police are still ongoing", he said.