Director General of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Benazir Ahmed has called for incorporating the provision of capital punishment in the existing Food Safety Act to stop food adulteration.
He made the call at a view-exchange meeting to discuss ways to check food adulteration and price hike of essential commodities during the month of Ramadan.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi attended the meeting organised by the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) at its office on Monday.
Citing recent examples, the director general of the elite force said their mobile courts found that some businessmen imported date-expired products but supplying them with fresh label and packet to local market.
During a drive at a leading edible oil company on Sunday last, the mobile court found that the refinery was bottling date-expired soybean oil anew, which is serious health hazard, he said.
"This is a serious crime and a large section of business people are committing such crimes. I would like to request the government to incorporate the provision of capital punishment in the existing Food Safety Act," Mr Benazir said.
"Those involved in such malpractice are simply murderers. We've to treat them accordingly. So, I demand an immediate change in the act," he added.He also said they fined many business entities over the years, but things did not change, which indicates that imposing fines is not enough to ensure safe food.
Speaking as the chief guest, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi called upon the businessmen not to resort to any unethical practice that would harm consumers.
"My clear message to all is that we want to keep the market stable at any cost," he said.
He also said they would set up a full monitoring unit under the leadership of the commerce secretary to control the prices of essentials.
President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin said there are several state entities that conduct mobile court drives to monitor the market.
He suggested operating mobile courts in a coordinated way so that no panic is created among businessmen.
RAB magistrate Sanwar Hossain said they observed a kind of blame game between wholesalers, retailers and importers whenever they found something fishy.
"So, please keep invoices so that we can check where the problem lies," he added.
Moderating the meeting, DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam issued a warning, asking the traders and businessmen not to destabilise the market by creating artificial crisis.
"We'll take strict action against such unscrupulous traders. We don't see any reason that could raise prices of essentials," he added.
Business leaders, senior DNCC officials, kitchen market operators and DNCC councillors were also present at the meeting.
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