The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) has recovered 15,000 litres of soybean oil from three warehouses of a grocery retailer in Chittagong.
The retailer was also fined Tk1.70 lakh for stockpiling oil amid a market crisis.
A team of the DNCRP raided a local shop in Pahartali Bazar in the Chittagong Metropolitan area and found the bottled soybean oil concealed in the warehouses.
DNCRP Chittagong Divisional Deputy Director Mohammad Faizullah said: “On a tip-off, we conducted a drive in the grocery store of Siraj Saudagar. A small amount of oil was kept in the store for sale.”
Also Read - 7 shops fined in Sylhet for overpricing soybean oil
“Later, we went to three of his warehouses one by one. We seized 15,000 litres of various brands of soybean oil from there,” he added.
Siraj admitted that the confiscated oil had been bought and stored before the new price was announced.
Faizullah said that the oil was being sold to stores at the same rates it was purchased in before Eid-ul-Fitr.
Also Read - Demand soars as stores run out of soybean oil
Meanwhile, in the last two days, about 18,000 litres of soybean oil were recovered in the port city.
On Sunday, the DNCRP found 1,050 litres of bottled soybean oil from a hidden compartment during a raid at the Khwaja Store in Karnaphuli Market in Sholashahar.
Besides, the local authorities raided the home of grocer Akhter Hossain in south Gazaria village in Baganbazar subdivision of Fatikchhari upazila of Chittagong and seized 2,328 litres of soybean oil from the premises.
