A mobile court in Sakhipur upazila of Tangail recovered 5,180 litres of illegally stored fuel during a drive aimed at tackling the ongoing fuel crisis, and sentenced two traders to five days’ imprisonment each.

The drive was conducted early today by Sakhipur Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land) Shamsunnahar Shila, under the initiative of the upazila administration.

During the drive, authorities recovered 3,516 litres of diesel and 1,664 litres of petrol.

According to the assistant commissioner a total of 4,500 litres of petrol and 4,500 litres of diesel had been supplied to Purbadesh Filling Station on the night of March 24. As per regulations, the fuel was supposed to be sold at the fixed price on March 25. Instead, it was not stored at the filling station, and the company facilitated its illegal storage at Messrs Jahangir Enterprise.

During the operation, the allegations were substantiated through the owner’s confession, testimonies of affected individuals and the recovered fuel, the assistant commissioner added.

She said the fuel was being sold at around Tk 10 above the government-fixed price, creating an artificial shortage and causing hardship for consumers.

The owner of Purbadesh Filling Station was sentenced to five days’ imprisonment under the Consumer Rights Protection Act, 2009. The owner of Jahangir Enterprise received the same sentence under the Petroleum Act, 2016 for storing fuel without a licence and selling it at an excessive price.

AC Shamsunnahar Shila said such drives would continue in the public interest.