Hilsa from India and Myanmar is being imported with ease through Benapole. Records show 352,787 kg of hilsa came through Benapole land port in the past two months. The fish look just like local hilsa. Bought for about Tk 500 a kg, Indian and Myanmar hilsa are being sold as "Padma hilsa" at Tk 1,400-1,800 a kg in Benapole, Jashore and markets across the country, and buyers are being cheated.

Padma hilsa used to be exported to India. Now, in reverse, hundreds of kilograms of Indian hilsa are being imported, reportedly by a number of Bangladeshi importers.

According to customs and fisheries quarantine sources, 352,787 kg of hilsa were imported through Benapole land port in the first two months of the 2026-27 financial year: 29,440 kg in July and 323,346 kg of Indian hilsa in August. The declared value was Tk 6.92 crore: Tk 35,48,796 in July and Tk 6,57,45,714 in August. A total of 22 importers brought in the fish over the two months, including Famous Traders, Sotota Fish Feed, Sharif Trade International, Swarnali International and Rabbi Enterprise.

Hilsa imported from India under letters of credit costs Tk 252 a kg, plus Tk 162 in government duty. Adding about Tk 100 a kg for truck fare, LC charges and other costs brings the total to Tk 514 a kg. That fish is selling at Tk 1,400 to 1,800 a kg.

It is not only Bangladesh: tonnes of hilsa from Gujarat, Mumbai and Myanmar have also entered markets in West Bengal. But hilsa traders are accused of selling these "tasteless and scentless" fish as Bangladesh's delicious hilsa.

Buyers say that when they go to market, unscrupulous traders put Indian and Myanmar hilsa in their bags as "Bangladeshi Padma hilsa". Cooking it at home, they find it has neither taste nor aroma.

The fish look like local hilsa and are large, yet cost about half as much. Supplies have risen in fish markets in Benapole, Jashore and elsewhere. Among traders they are known as Indian and Myanmar hilsa, and some call them "Rohingya hilsa".

Demand for Bangladeshi hilsa is huge and its price comparatively high. Taking advantage of this, many traders are accused of importing fish from India and Myanmar and selling it as "Padma hilsa".

Ashwadul Alam, inspector at the Benapole land port fisheries quarantine office, said: "In just the first two months of this financial year, 352,787 kg of hilsa were imported through Benapole land port. A total of 22 importers brought in the fish. We issue quarantine certificates only after examining the fish properly."

Fish traders say the fish from various Indian states and Myanmar enter through Benapole via India. But officials at the Benapole fisheries quarantine office say the hilsa coming through Benapole is Indian; hilsa from Myanmar comes through Chattogram port.

One source claims a lot of hilsa has also entered illegally. On 22 July, Benapole customs seized 12 cartons (about 360 kg) of Indian hilsa imported through Benapole land port declared as white fish.

Md Mohiuddin, who came to buy hilsa at Benapole market, told Jagonews24: "I bought a fish thinking it was local hilsa. After eating it I realised its taste and smell were not like local hilsa." Because they look almost identical, he said, it is hard for ordinary buyers to tell foreign from local hilsa.

Another buyer, Anwarul Islam, said: "There are complaints that traders sell hilsa under the names of Chandpur, sometimes Barishal, sometimes Chattogram. Yet all of it is imported from India and Myanmar. A section of fish traders is selling it at high prices, so buyers are being cheated. We want the administration to act against the traders involved under the law. This kind of fraud must stop immediately."

According to traders, local hilsa weighing 1.2 to 1.3 kg now sells for Tk 3,300 to 3,400 a kg, while Indian and Myanmar hilsa of the same weight costs Tk 1,400 to 1,800. Even though they are large, foreign hilsa are much cheaper, so naturally a large share of buyers are turning to the cheaper fish.

Jadab Haldar, a fish trader at Navaran bazar, said he had heard the fish come from India and Myanmar via India. Traders claim two men, Kuddus of Bag Achra and Zafar of Benapole, are importing them, and that the fish are imported legally under LCs.

Local hilsa traders at Benapole market, including Utsab Mondal, Babu, Mahbub, Mostafizur and Paritosh Biswas, said sales of local hilsa have fallen since large foreign hilsa arrived at low prices. Buyers are choosing foreign hilsa because of the price difference, and genuine local hilsa traders face financial losses.

They say that when foreign hilsa is sold as "local hilsa", two sides lose at once: buyers are cheated and local hilsa traders lose their market.

Several importers who did not want to be named told Jagonews24: "We imported the hilsa from India legally through LCs, paying government duty. We sell it to wholesalers at the market, and they sell it on. What the market traders say when they sell it is their business. Everyone knows we import from India."

Ruhul Amin, acting director of Benapole land port, told Jagonews24: "Along with white fish, 29,440 kg of Indian hilsa in July and 323,346 kg in August were imported from India through Benapole land port. Twenty-two importers brought in the fish. We released them after customs clearance and collecting the port charges. The importers took the fish to different parts of the country in Bangladeshi trucks."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.