Dhaka City fruit vendors strike Saturday

An organisation of fruit vendors in Dhaka City has called a strike for Saturday to protest what it said ‘harassment’ during the ongoing anti-formalin drive. Dhaka metropolitan fruit traders will form a human chain at Topkhana Road in front of National Press Club on that day. The body’s general secretary Sirajul Islam said they would keep shutters down from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm on Saturday. ‘The machine police are using to test formalin is not a formalin-testing tool,’ he alleged. Eight checkpoints were set up at different entrances of the city to test fruit adulteration on June 11 as part of the anti-formalin drive. When asked about the machine, BSTI official Monir Hossain, taking part in the drive, said he did not know anything about it. ‘Police can tell you about it. We are running tests on the spot,’ he said. Mizanur Rahman, senior assistant commissioner of police’s Lalbagh zone, said, ‘The machine was imported by the commerce ministry. It is used there to test formalin,' according to bdnews24.com.