A mobile court has fined a trader with Tk50,000 on charges of hoarding five tons of onion in Chittagong.
Hathazari Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Ruhul Amin conducted the drive at a storage house owned by Amir Hossain at Hathazari municipality on Wednesday, and fined Amir.
Speaking to Dhaka Tribune, Hathazari UNO Ruhul Amin said: “After checking the papers, we found evidence that the trader procured five tons of onion 20 days ago. However, he hoarded the onion, and decided to sell it now, to make some quick money.
"Later, Amir was fined with Tk 50,000. He was also ordered to sell the onion to retail customers at Tk70 per kg,” Ruhul said.
Price of onions has been soaring sky high recently, after the Indian government’s ban on exports of onion and its earlier directive setting the minimum export price (MEP) at $850 per ton, up from $350.
Despite a slight fall of prices in the wholesale market amid improved supply on Monday and Tuesday, retail prices of onion remained largely unchanged.
On Monday, per kilogram locally produced onions sold for Tk110 to Tk115, while imported ones sold for Tk100 in different kitchen markets in Dhaka. It dropped down by Tk5-10 per kg on Tuesday.