Photo: Bonik Barta The
price of sugar is rising in the domestic market. Taking advantage of this,
unauthorized and unofficial sugar imports from India through smuggling are
increasing. Members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) are catching these
shipments. According to the border security force, over 5 lakh kilograms of
sugar smuggled from India have been seized by BGB members in the past two
months.
BGB
sources say most illegally imported sugar comes from the Sylhet and Feni border
areas. The price of sugar in the Bangladeshi market is currently double that in
India. In this situation, the tendency for illegal sugar imports has increased.
Sometimes, it is hidden under loads of sand; other times, it is hidden under a
husk. With the help of local influential figures and the administration, this
illegally imported sugar is reaching various locations in the country while
evading customs duties. It is suspected that several times more sugar has
already entered the domestic market than what has been seized at the border.
In
the first six months of this year, there were incidents of seizing sugar
smuggled from India at the border, but the quantity was minimal. However, in
August and September alone, 507,465 kilograms of sugar were seized while being
smuggled into Bangladesh. Of this, 391,343 kilograms were seized in August, and
as of yesterday in September, 116,122 kilograms have been seized. Most of the
illegally imported sugar has been confiscated from the Sylhet and Sunamganj
border areas. Additionally, some of this sugar has also been seized in Feni
while it was being supplied to various locations in the country.
On
Friday(September 27), the BGB seized a shipment of illegally imported sugar at
the Sunamganj border. However, this report has not confirmed the quantity of
the seized sugar. Earlier, on September 23, Indian sugar valued at nearly half
a crore taka was seized in Sylhet. Lt. Colonel Khondkar Md. Asadunnabi,
commander of the BGB's Zakiganj Battalion (19 BGB), stated that the BGB patrol
team noticed a truck filled with sand on the Sylhet-Tamabil highway and
signaled it to stop due to suspicion. When the car attempted to flee, the
patrol team chased it down and was able to apprehend it on the Surma Bypass
road. Upon searching the sand-filled truck, the patrol team discovered bags of
Indian sugar hidden beneath the sand, worth nearly half a crore taka. The
seized sugar has been deposited at the local customs office. Previously, on
September 18, a similar operation led to the seizure of Indian sugar worth
almost half a crore taka from a truck on the same Surma Bypass road. These,
too, have been deposited at the local customs office.
On
the same day, the BGB conducted operations in the border areas of Gowainghat
and Companyganj upazilas, seizing 26,900 kilograms of sugar smuggled from
India, according to Lieutenant Colonel Md. Hafizur Rahman, commander of the
Sylhet Battalion (48 BGB), has already deposited this sugar at the local
customs office.
Last
Thursday, the BGB also seized another shipment of 5,890 kilograms of sugar in
Feni. Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain, commander of the Feni
Battalion (4 BGB), told Bonik Barta that this sugar was smuggled from India
through the border area of Joynagar in the Chhagalnaiya upazila. The sugar was
stored in a house near the border and was to be supplied to the local market at
a convenient time.
Regarding
the overall situation, Md. Shariful Islam, the public relations officer of the
BGB headquarters, told Bonik Barta, "Recently, a large quantity of sugar
smuggled from India has been seized in the border areas and deposited at the
local customs office. Most seizures have occurred in these illegally imported
sugar shipments in Sylhet and Sunamganj. So far, the most significant amounts
of smuggled sugar have been confiscated in August and September. Before this,
some isolated shipments were caught before this, but their quantities were
minimal."
