Earlier, in June last year, a pickup truck carrying 3,000 kg or 75 maunds of Muriate of Potash fertilizer was seized during a smuggling attempt in Bijaynagar upazila of Brahmanbaria.
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) had recovered 1,200 bags of DAP fertilizer being smuggled from Natore in January last year. RAB detained six transport workers during the operation.
Despite the arrest of the drivers and their assistants involved in these incidents, the main culprits are at large. The contractor firm responsible for the transportation, M/s Potton Traders, embezzled 72,000 tonnes of chemical fertilizer imported by the government instead of transporting it after unloading it from the port.
On 17 October 2022, Prothom Alo published a report stating that fertilizer worth 6.20 billion taka imported by Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) was embezzled instead of being taken to the warehouse.
According to the case documents, this fertilizer was offloaded from Chattogram and Mongla ports till 19 February 2021. Despite repeated requests from BCIC, the firm contracted for transportation has failed to deliver 64,000 tonnes of fertilizer to the government warehouse. The cost of fertilizer is Tk 4.38 billion.