A mobile court led by the local district administration on Sunday busted a racket of importers, commission agents and brokers behind the price manipulating of ginger in Chittagong.
This was revealed after a drive at Khatunganj market, one of the largest commodity hubs in Chittagong region.
Aiming to the keep the prices of essential commodities in check during the month of Ramadan, Executive Magistrate Tawhidul Islam conducted the drive with the help of the law enforcers.
While conducting the drive at the commodity hub, the mobile court found that the ginger wholesalers were charging two to three times higher than the original prices.
Sensing the presence of the mobile court, many ginger importers of the commodity hub went into hiding after shutting down their businesses.
Later, the mobile court fined a wholesale shop, Kamal Uddin Brothers, with Tk50,000 for selling ginger at an inflated price.
Speaking to Dhaka Tribune, Tawhidul said that 35 Chittagong-based importers brought in 3,143 tons of ginger from January 1 until April 24 at Tk25 crore including customs duty.
“As per the import documents, the price of imported ginger is between Tk80-95 per kg. However, a racket of unscrupulous traders has increased the price up to Tk250 per kg in just a couple of days,” said the executive magistrate, adding that they will continue the drives against the price manipulators to keep the prices of daily essentials stable.
