Fertilizer Smuggling: 558 Sacks Recovered in Raids; BADC Storekeeper Arrested

Authorities in Bangladesh have conducted raids, recovering 558 sacks of MOP fertilizer from dealers' warehouses and punishing the owners. These actions follow an incident where a storekeeper at a Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) warehouse was arrested for allegedly selling a significant quantity of fertilizer without proper authorization.

Md Aktarul Islam, the storekeeper at the BADC warehouse in Dinajpur's Sadar upazila, was arrested after an initial check revealed discrepancies in stock records. He reportedly admitted to selling 227 metric tons of fertilizer to two contracted dealers during July and August. Following his arrest, the warehouse was sealed, and a case was filed against him.

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An initial check found discrepancies in the stock records. Then I ordered the detention of the storekeeper and sealing of the warehouse.

In separate operations, authorities seized 450 sacks of MOP fertilizer from the warehouse of one of the alleged buyers, Sohel Hossain, in Birganj. While Sohel was not apprehended, the warehouse manager, Jony Islam, was sentenced to one month in jail and the establishment fined ৳30,000. Additionally, 108 sacks of MOP fertilizer were seized from two warehouses owned by the second dealer, Ansarul Islam, in Kaharole, who was fined ৳60,000. It remains unclear if the fertilizer seized from the dealers' warehouses was part of the 227 tonnes allegedly sold from the BADC facility, though the seized sacks bore the BADC seal.

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he had sold 227 tonnes of fertiliser at different times in July and August without approval.