RAB seizes 165,025 litres of illegally stored edible oil
FE REPORT | Saturday, 11 April 2026
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has seized over 165,000 litres of edible oil during a 24-hour nationwide drive conducted from Thursday to Friday to prevent illegal hoarding, price manipulation and irregular stockpiling of the key cooking ingredient.
Director (Media wing) of RAB Commander MZM Intakhab Chowdhury disclosed the development to the media on Friday.
He said that mobile courts were conducted at 20 locations across the country as part of coordinated drives aimed at stabilising the edible oil market and curbing artificial crisis.
He said that in total, 165,025 litres of cooking oil identified as illegally or abnormally stockpiled were seized during the operations.
Mobile courts also imposed fines totaling over Tk0.3 million (Tk 353,000) on various businesses for regulatory violations.
In Dhaka's Paltan, Shantinagar, Nayapaltan and Purana Paltan areas, market monitoring teams instructed traders to refrain from hoarding and overpricing essential commodities.
In another operation at Jurain Bazar in Shyampur, a warehouse was sealed after authorities discovered 1,705 sacks of rice and 500 sacks of flour stored illegally.
In Feni's Islam Road area, a warehouse was fined Tk50,000 for illegal stockpiling of edible oil.
In Jashore's Kotwali area, 16,524 litres of soybean oil were seized from Nawab Mill, which was fined Tk 50,000 for illegal storage.
In Rangpur, two business establishments were fined Tk60,000 over hoarding and price manipulation of edible oil.
Mr Intakhab Chowdhury further said that separate drives were also conducted in Savar, Pallabi and Shah Ali in the city and Cox's Bazar district where no major irregularities were detected.
However, traders were issued warnings to comply with regulations.
RAB also fined a business Tk30,000 in Sreemangal of Moulvibazar district, for storing 8,500 litres of edible oil without proper authorisation, while a trader in Narsingdi was fined Tk10,000 for selling oil above government-fixed prices, Intakhab Chowdhury said.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com