Medan. A trader has illegally bought 2,000 tons of rice from a State Logistics Agency (Bulog) warehouse in Medan for retail sales using falsified documents, police said on Monday.

The news came amid a shortage of the staple food that caused rice prices to increase significantly across the nation.

The suspect, a 67-year-old resident of Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra, identified by initials AKL, has been put in police custody, North Sumatra Police spokesman Chief Comr. Hadi Wahyudi said.

As rice supplies are becoming increasingly scarce, Bulog began to limit sales to traders who own rice mills starting in January.

AKL allegedly forged documents carrying the name of a rice mill owned by Parino, who also lives in Tanjung Morawa district, Deli Serdang.

"He used forged documents of a rice mill belonging to Parino, who is registered as a Bulog partner," Hadi said.

Parino has confirmed that he doesn’t know the suspect in person, the officer added.

AKL has allegedly resold the Bulog rice to his customers in Riau and across Java.

He is charged under the consumer protection law which carries a minimum prison sentence of 5 years.