After the recovery of 2,328 litres of soybean oil from a retailers’ house at Chattogram’s Fatikchhari on Sunday, the authorities found another 1,050 litres at a shop at Karnaphuli Market in Sholoshahar of the port city.
Officials recovered the bottles as part of a government crackdown amid a significant crisis in the cooking oil market, reports bdnews24.com.
During a drive at Karnaphuli Market, the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection fined owner of the shop, Khaja Store, Abdul Hakim Tk 40,000 for hoarding oil and expired ghee.
Md Fayez Ullah, a deputy director of the directorate, said they found the depot after going down through stairs in a tunnel under Khaja Store.
The owner claimed he was a supplier at the start of the operation but failed to present documents to corroborate it, later confessing to officials that he had hoarded the oil at the start of Ramadan.
The authorities found bottles of one, two, three and five litres and ordered Hakim to sell them off at retail prices.