<i>Huge chemically treated bananas destroyed</i>

Rapid Action Battalion destroyed at least 6,000 bunches of bananas at Jalchhatra in Modhupur uapzila of Tangail district yesterday as unscrupulous traders had continued ripening the fruits with toxic chemicals, defying earlier warning by law enforcers in the area.Photo: STAR

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) yesterday destroyed chemically treated 6,000 bunches of banana worth Tk 9 lakh at Jalchhatra, the largest banana market in Madhupur upazila of Tangail district.
Acting on a tip, a team of Crime Prevention Company-3 of Rab-12 went to Jalchhatra and caught two banana vendors red-handed when they were spraying harmful chemicals to ripen the fruits, Rab sources said.
A mobile court led by Executive Magistrate Mohammad Kamal Hossain fined the two banana vendors Tk 5,000 each under Food Purity Act and had other banana vendors promise not to spray harmful chemicals on fruits in future.
The court also fined two chemical traders Tk 2,500 each for selling harmful chemicals.
The Rab men later destroyed over 6,000 chemically ripened bunches of banana at the market.
"The destroyed banana would be worth about Tk 9 lakh. Earlier we had warned Madhupur banana traders not to use harmful chemicals to ripen the fruits," said Rab Company Commander Major Mohammad Nasir Uddin.
On September 9 last year, Rab members from the same team raided the Madhupur banana market and fined several banana vendors Tk 25,000 and destroyed over 1000 bunches of banana that were ripened with harmful chemicals.