Legal action is being pursued against suspects in two cases after three days of rice warehouse inspections turned up evidence of fraud, deputy police chief Aek Angsananont said yesterday.
The first case was reported in Pathum Thani where a rice inspection team consisting of provincial administration officials and the 1st Army found up to 90,000 sacks of rice missing from a warehouse, Pol Gen Aek said.
The second case was reported in Phichit's Bang Mun Nak district where another inspection team found rice stored at one warehouse was of a lesser quality than claimed in its report, he said.
Phichit's provincial governor has been assigned to file a complaint with police regarding the discoveries, Pol Gen Aek said.
Inspections continued yesterday in Phichit as teams visited three warehouses where rice pledged under the
Yingluck Shinawatra government scheme was stored.
At a warehouse operated by KTB Agro Co in Bang Mun Nak district, an inspection team discovered only 8,928 tonnes of rice remained in silo No.17.
The silo was supposed to contain 13,986 tonnes of rice, as indicated in the warehouse report.
The rice remaining in this particular silo was not the 5% white rice as claimed, but broken-milled rice.
Contradicting the warehouse report, the rice appeared to come from an older harvest than 2013-2014.
The findings raised questions over whether evidence of a scam had been uncovered, in which good-quality rice pledged under the rice scheme was replaced with old, low-quality stock.
The second warehouse inspected yesterday was run by Sirichai Inter Trade Co in Muang district of Phichit.
At this warehouse, nothing unusual was detected.
The rice inspection team collected rice samples for further tests to assess the quality of the product.
The third warehouse examined was Yong Heng Seng Warehouse in tambon Tha Bua of Pho Thale district.
The inspection team decided to suspend its work here after discovering the sixth stack of about 2,000 rice sacks had collapsed before the inspection could take place.
The warehouse operator was instructed to stack the rice sacks in correct order before the inspection is resumed today. Soldiers have been deployed to guard the warehouse following the suspension of inspections.
Jirachai Multhongroi, an inspector attached to the Prime Minister's Office and a member of the committee overseeing the 52nd rice inspection team, said the team would today begin inspection of rice warehouses and silos in three districts of Phitsanulok.
From today until July 22, the team will inspect 11 warehouses in Bang Rakam district, eight warehouses in Bang Krathum district and 10 warehouses in Wat Bot district.
The team will today start with Wat Bot district where between 180,000 and 240,000 sacks of rice remain after all the warehouses have been locked up to prevent any tampering with the pledged rice.
Each warehouse has been secured with up to four locks and each key has been given to a different person and will not be opened until inspections take place.