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

RAB on Tuesday arrested three traders from Chattogram’s Cement Crossing Market for illegally stockpiling TCB goods to sell at the local market.   The arrestees are TCB’s main dealer in Bandar EPZ area Kamrul Islam Rashed (of Prakash Bhandari) and owners of Gauchia Store Md Jasim Uddin and Md Nuruullah. RAB-7 vice-captain Major Md. Mostafa Zaman said that the warehouse was raided and the products were seized on the basis of a tip-off. The dealers were caught red handed while repacking the goods in that warehouse. READ: TCB goods recovered from Gazipur market godown; trader arrested During the preliminary interrogation, they admitted that the products belonged to TCB. A case will be filed against them, he said. The TCB products seized from the warehouse included 2,000 liters of edible oil, 500 kg of sugar and 500 kg of lentils. The arrestees and the seized goods were handed over to EPZ police.

A syndicate monopolising and hoarding daily commodities, including soybean oil, for extra profit is unacceptable, said the High Court on Sunday. The HC bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice SM Moniruzzaman made the remarks while hearing a writ petition seeking directions to set up a monitoring cell to control soybean oil prices in the market. The court said some people buy more soybean oil than they need, which may lead to higher prices in the market. In the case of daily commodities including soybean oil, it is not acceptable for a syndicate to have monopoly business and stockpile products for extra profit. Also read: HC to hear writ seeking directions to rein in edible oil prices Monday Instructing the writ petitioners to amend the petition, the court said there can be an artificial crisis of all essential commodities ahead of the month of Ramadan. Not just soybean oil, but all essential commodities are included in the writ. Such an order should be given for the benefit of every citizen of the country. The court also said that the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) needs to formulate a policy on the distribution of essential commodities. The court also set Monday for the hearing of the petition. Advocate Syed Mohidul Kabir appeared for the writ petition in the court while Deputy Attorney General Pratikar Chakma represented the state. Earlier on March 6, Supreme Court lawyers Monir Hossain, Syed Mohidul Kabir and Mohammad Ullah filed the writ petition in the public interest. The secretary of Commerce Ministry, Consumer Rights Authority and others were made respondents in the petition. Also read: VAT on import of edible oil, other commodities withdrawn: Minister On March 3, the three lawyers brought the issue of soybean oil price hike to the notice of HC following a report published in an English daily about the hike in the price of soybean oil. According to the report, a group of traders in Bangladesh has raised the price of soybean oil at an unusual rate, taking advantage of the Russia-Ukraine war. On March 2, the price of a liter of loose soybean was charged at Tk 175 from the buyers in the market that is fixed at Tk 143 by the government.