A Rapid Action Battalion mobile court fined three grocery shops Tk150,000 for illegal stockpiling of soybean oil and sale of soybean oil at exorbitant prices in the Jatrabari area of the capital on Monday.

An operational team of RAB-3 got secret information through intelligence sources that some grocery traders in the North Jatrabari area of the capital have been stockpiling huge quantities of soybean oil and selling the essential edible oil to the general public at Tk 34 per liter more than the price fixed by the government.

On the basis of the secret information, the operational team conducted a mobile court at North Jatrabari from 11:50 am to 1:50 pm in the presence of Abdul Jabbar Mandal, Assistant Director, Department of Consumer Rights Protection.

Also read: Dealers, retailers betrayed me on edible oil price: Commerce Minister

During the drive, executive magistrate Md Mazaharul Islam, fined the owners of Aditi Traders, M/S Sifat Trading and M/S Mintu Store Tk 50,000 each. The mobile court found stocks of 15,000 liters of soybean oil in those shops, said Bina Rani Das, Additional SP (Ops and Intelligence wing) of the Rab-3 battalion headquarter.

During the preliminary interrogation, the owners of those grocery shops admitted their wrongdoing. They said they were stockpiling huge quantities of soybean oil and selling it at a higher price than the government had set. The RAB's campaign against these gangs will continue in the future as well, Additional SP Bina Rani added.

Also read: Crackdown on hoarding: 15,000 liters of Soybean oil seized in Chattogram