In a decisive move against hoarding, Naogaon authorities took stringent action, imposing fines totaling Tk5,70,000 on 16 mill owners, including the president of the District Rice Mill Owners’ Group. Three warehouses were sealed as part of the crackdown on illegal rice and paddy stockpiling.
Executive magistrates conducted extensive anti-hoarding operations across Mohadebpur, Manda, and Patnitala upazilas on Saturday, delivering swift penalties. The deputy commissioner’s media cell disclosed this information around 9:30 pm.
According to the media cell, joint efforts by the upazila and district administrations were undertaken to identify and address the unlawful accumulation of paddy and rice. Notably, in Anandnagar Mahalla, President of the District Rice Mill Owners’ Group, Rafiqul Islam Rafiq, and owner of RM Rice Mill, faced a Tk1,00,000 fine, with three godowns sealed for exceeding storage limits.
Other fines included Tk1,00,000 for the owner of Tasiron Automatic Rice Mill, Tk50,000 for MM Auto Rice Mill owner, Tk50,000 for Mofiz Uddin Automatic Rice Mill owner, Tk1,00,000 for M/S Jayeda Traders, and Tk50,000 for Sufia Automatic Rice Mill owner.
In Mohadebpur upazila, fines were imposed on Nahar Arman Automatic Rice Mill (Tk30,000), Shapla Automatic Rice Mill (Tk20,000), and Dada Automatic Rice Mill (Tk10,000). Additionally, owners of Zahid Automatic Rice Mill and Mecca Madina Automatic Rice Mill faced penalties.
Manda upazila saw traders Faizul Islam and Sumon Kumar fined Tk20,000 and Tk50,000, respectively, for illegal paddy storage. In Patnitala upazila, three paddy traders received fines totaling Tk35,000 for hoarding without a license.
Naogaon Deputy Commissioner Golam Mowla announced the formation of a dedicated team to oversee the legal sale of stored paddy and rice in the open market, comprising an assistant commissioner (land), agriculture extension officer, upazila food controller, and a sub-inspector (SI). Emphasizing the stability of the paddy and rice market, he affirmed the continuation of the anti-hoarding drive.
