A mobile court initiated by the Detective Branch of Rangpur Metropolitan Police seized 1.50 tonnes of illegally produced banned polythene worth Tk 5.25 lakh from a factory here on Wednesday afternoon.
“Led by Executive Magistrate of Rangpur district administration Maliha Khanom, police with the assistance of the District Department of Environment (DoE) conducted the mobile court on Wednesday afternoon,” a press release said Thursday.
During the raid, the court seized the huge quantity of illegally produced banned polythene from ‘Messer’s Read Enterprise’ polythene producing factory at Shialu Mour of Shalbon Mistripara area in the metropolis.
After checking documents, the court found that the factory produces polythene beyond the measurements prescribed by the government without registration, fire service certification and fire extinguishing systems.
Besides, the factory has no license, machine operators, permission of the DoE and labourers work there without health certificates and wearing hand gloves and masks while producing polythene without following the health rules in a dirty environment.
The mobile court fined the Manager of the factory Md Mowla Bus Tk 8,000 under the Bangladesh Environment Protection Act, 1995 for illegally producing, storing and marketing polythene violating the Act.
Later, the seized polythene was handed over to the District Department of Environment authorities for destroying those as per law of the land.
The court also ordered the factory authority to stop production, stocking and marketing of polythene at the factory until its registration and getting a legal license.
“Similar raids would continue to stop production, stocking, transportation and marketing of banned polythene and bring the persons involved under the law of land to free the city of Rangpur from illegal polythene,” the release added.
Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police of Rangpur Metropolitan Police (RpMP) Md Faruk Ahmed, Assistant Director of the DoE Mohammad Faruque Hossain, Inspectors of RpMP Md Saleh Ahmed Pathan and Md Motaleb Hossain, other officers and police forces participated in the raid.
