Local people in Jhenaidah stopped a truck carrying 420 sacks of TSP fertiliser with no valid papers. The owner admitted supplying the fertiliser illegally and then slipped away, yet the administration has given him seven days to submit valid documents, raising questions about how officials are handling the case.
The truck was stopped at about 7.30pm on Tuesday, 10 November, near the cadet college on the Jhenaidah-Kushtia highway. The fertiliser was being taken from Noapara in Jashore to Kushtia. The driver could show no memo or valid challan, and he and his helper fled. Witness Sajjadul Islam said the deputy commissioner, police and agriculture department were informed, but officials took about two hours to reach a spot inside the town. The truck was moved to the Sadar police station after 11pm.
In front of residents, the truck and fertiliser owner, Shovon Mia, said: "Supplying illegal fertiliser was a grave mistake on my part." He claimed a man named Sourav had loaded and sent the fertiliser from Meghloy ghat in Noapara. He then disappeared into the crowd.
Sadar upazila nirbahi officer Dipa Rani Sarkar said the truck and fertiliser are being held at the police station, the owner has seven days to produce valid papers, and action will follow under the rules. Kamruzzaman, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Jhenaidah, said the fertiliser will be taken into government custody if there are no papers.
A day earlier, on Monday 9 November, residents accused traders of illegally storing fertiliser in two trucks at Dugdugi bazar in Madhuhati union of Sadar upazila. They say officials were told but took no immediate action, and residents themselves stopped the two trucks at about 9pm as the fertiliser was being moved away.
Residents allege that although supply is adequate, a syndicate and weak oversight are distorting distribution, so genuine farmers cannot get the fertiliser they need and an artificial shortage is created. The report was filed by Ittefaq's Jhenaidah (multimedia) correspondent.
Photo: Rasbak / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Ittefaq
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