A mobile court has fined traders in Sreemangal upazila of Moulvibazar Tk4 lakh for trying to create an artificial shortage of soybean oil by hoarding them illegally.
The mobile court, headed by Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) and Executive Magistrate Md Nazrul Islam, raided Ripon Traders and Papon Enterprise on Wednesday afternoon, fining them Tk1 lakh and Tk3 lakh, respectively.
Assistant Commissioner (land) Nesar Uddin and Sreemangal police station OC Shamim Or Rashid Talukder were present at the time.
UNO Nazrul later warned traders they would face legal action if they stockpiled food items attempting to increase their prices ahead of Ramadan.
Similar raids would be conducted regularly, he announced.