The government is working to bring the persons involved in the recent abnormal price hike of onion to dock. Through multifarious activities, the unscrupulous businessmen who looted away thousands of crores of taka making the country’s onion market unstable would be detected and brought under the jurisdiction of law, said top government sources.
Senior intelligence sources said already Bangladesh Competition Commission (BCC), a subsidiary of Commerce Ministry, have sought for detailed information over buying and selling of onions from 28 suspected businessmen. BCC sent separate letters to those businessmen on November 17, seeking to know buying and selling price of per kg onion imported during last one and a half months. The businessmen have been asked to respond within November 28 with detailed information over the queries.
Sources said after analysing and comparing the importing prices and selling prices, the government would take stern action against dishonest traders. In this regard, commerce secretary Md Zafar Uddin on Thursday told the media, “Those involved in the recent abnormal price hike of onions are being detected. Legal actions would be taken against them very soon. “Already government has taken legal steps against 15 dishonest onion traders for being involved in unusual price hike activities,” he added.
Intelligence sources claimed only a few top onion traders were the mastermind behind the countrywide abnormal price hike of onions and their number is not more than eight to ten. The sources said, most of them are wholesale onion traders operating business in Shyambazar in the capital and some are from Khatunganj in Chattogram.
Several traders from Shyambazar alleged that Md Zamal Uddin, an onion trader from the wholesale market, alone looted away huge amount of money from the market importing highest volume of onions during last two months. “He has gone into hiding since the government became active to detect the dishonest traders,” they said.
“Zamal imports around 1,500 tonnes of onion in a month. The onion crisis reached its peak during November 13-16. During the time, he alone bagged several thousand crores of taka,” the sources alleged. They also said that besides Zamal Uddin, onion traders Md Rafiqul Islam, Yasin Ahmed and Lalbihari Sutradhar from Shyambazar and Aba Agro Corporation, Khan and Sons, MNK Suppliers, Abul Bashar and Sons from Khatunganj were also involved in the artificial price hike.
Onion traders said price of onions imported before the abnormal price hike ranges between Tk 15 to Tk 35 per kg. The onions were imported from China, Myanmar, Egypt and Pakistan. But those onions were sold in wholesale markets at Tk 150 to Tk 180 per kg. Claiming that importers of onion did not hoard the essential product, onion trader Md Rafiqul Islam, from whom competition commission have sought bank and import details, said, “After being imported, onion reaches the retail market passing through various hands. During the crisis, importers, wholesalers and retailers, all had bagged excess profit.” He, however, kept mum in reply to the query over how onion bought at Tk 25 can be sold at Tk 250.