DHAKA: As the local marketing company of a bestselling soybean oil was made to pay a high price for price-fixing offence, Industries Minister Dilip Barua Tuesday alleged not only country’s businessmen but also foreigners were trying to make the market unstable ‘through syndicate”.
 
He brought the allegation while leading an anti-adulteration drive in the city’s Tejgaon industrial area during which the depot of Bangladesh Edible Oil Ltd company was sealed and some 43,930 litres of edible oil were seized.

After the shutdown of the oil depot, the industries minister said, “The business group, without prior declaration, has increased the price of per-litre Rupchanda brand of soybean oil by Tk 4 in a week. This type of cheating from the Malaysia-based group is unexpected.”

He went on clobbering a section of the market-manipulating businesses: “They increase the prices of essential commodities every week for making windfall profit, violating government orders. Many business leaders may be involved in the syndication.”

As the market continued to show waywardness as regards price, quality, weight and so, the left politician-turned technocrat minister vowed to continue the drive to compel the unscrupulous section of businesspeople to supply quality commodities to the consumers at right prices.

BSTI Director General AK Fazlul Ahad said as per the law, it is mandatory to inform the BSTI DG before increasing the price of packaged goods. “But nobody did inform me about the matter to date,” he said.

Magistrate Mohammad Al-Amin, who participated in the mobile-court drive, said, “Bangladesh Edible Oil Ltd did neither inform the BSTI DG nor publish any advertisement before raising the price.”

He said the seized oil would be handed over to the BSTI under section 40 of the Consumers Right Act 2009 for auction sale. Besides, the sealed depot was handed overt to the care of Rab-2 crime-busting force.

Six months ago, a mobile court had fined the same group TK 2 lakh after it found 80 ml less in the 5-litre container.

Earlier in the day, the high-powered mobile court led by the Industries Minister conducted another drive at Karwan Bazar wholesale market as part of a drastic action against fraud ahead of Ramadan.

The court fined a shop owner at the big Kitchen market TK 50,000 for mixing formalin with fish and also fined Shariatpur Store Tk 1 lakh for mixing colour with powdered turmeric and pepper and storing hyper oxide.

BDST 2049 HRS AUG 10, 2010