Raid finds S Alam oil bottling plant closed

The National Consumer Rights Protection Department on Sunday raided the S Alam Vegetable Oil Factory, a leading vegetable oil importer and marketing company at Karnaphuli of Chattogram and found its bottling plant closed.

The operation was carried out at noon on Sunday and the oil factory officials claimed that the section remained closed for three days for necessary maintenance and repairs.

Officials of the Consumer Rights Protection Department said that they found the bottling section of the factory closed but the process of selling oil in drums was underway.

Mohammad Fayez Ullah, Deputy Director, Chattogram Divisional Office National Consumer Protection Authority, led the raid. Assistant directors of the department Nasreen Akhter and Md Anisur Rahman and its Chittagong district office assistant director Didar Hossain were also present.

“We asked the officials concerned of S Alam Vegetable Oil Factory to start production of bottled oil as soon as the repairs are done and report us about resuming production,” Foyez Ullah told The Business Post.

Fayez Ullah said they found some five-litre bottles of soybean oil in the factory which carried the price tag at Tk 835, but the government fixed the price at Tk 795.

S Alam authorities claimed those bottles were labelled before the government fixed the fresh price.

The department assistant director Anisur Rahman said they also raided a shop called Bismillah Super in Bakalia of the city.

They sold a 5-litre PUSTI brand bottle of soybean oil with a price tag of Tk 795 to a customer at Tk 800. The shop was fined Tk 15,000 for charging extra.

On the same day, officials of the department discussed with various oil dealers in Khatunganj, a wholesale market in the city, and tried to find out the reason for the rise in oil prices.