No control over roadside sales of petrol
Unauthorised sale of petrol and octane continues, mostly in roadside shops, making it easier for arsonists to collect the highly inflammable liquids to make firebombs.
This is despite an alarming spree of arson attacks across the country in recent weeks. Torching of vehicles has claimed dozens of lives and left scores burnt since the BNP-led alliance began an indefinite blockade on January 6.
Against this backdrop, the government has moved to check so-far unfettered sales of petroleum and clamped restrictions on selling fuel oil in the country.
Police yesterday instructed pump owners not to sell petrol, octane and diesel in any type of containers.
So, if someone needs fuel for their cars or motorbikes, they have to bring the vehicles to the filling stations, said Nazmul Huq, president of Bangladesh Petrol Pump Owners' Association.
"I received a letter today from New Market Police Station asking me not to sell petrol, octane and diesel in containers," he said.
"Selling petrol or octane by anyone other than authorised dealers and petrol pumps is illegal, and police in yesterday's letter instructed us not to sell petroleum even to dealers," Nazmul added.
Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia of Dhaka Metropolitan Police thinks the step was necessary under the present circumstances.
"We suspect that a portion of petrol and octane sold in containers ends up in the hands of arsonists. So, we have asked them to stop open sale," he told The Daily Star.
SO COMMON, SO EASY
A shop with rows of plastic bottles containing petroleum in the front is a very common sight in the country.
Our Patuakhali correspondent, during a recent ride on the Patuakhali-Kuakata road, found more than 100 roadside shops selling petrol and octane in bottles of different sizes.
In many cases, there were no shops even. There were only a table, on which the bottles were lined up, and a few drums or jars of petroleum beside it.
Asked if they had taken any permission, a bewildered retailer at Basakbazar said, "What permission? We just buy petrol in jars from a filling station and sell it here to make some profit. This is how it has been going on for years."
Grocer Sirajul Islam of Nayagola in Chapainawabganj said many small shop owners like him sell petrol in bottles for profit.
He, however, claimed he did not sell petrol to unidentified persons, reports our Chapainawabganj correspondent.
Shafiqul sells petrol at Bottalimore in Dinajpur town in a similar way.
"I bought petrol in a container from the nearby Samata Filling Station two days ago and now I am selling it in bottles," he told our correspondent there yesterday.
However, salesman Milon of the petrol pump denied this, saying they had stopped selling fuels in containers following orders from the district administration three days back.
Hundreds of retailers were found selling petrol and octane in a similar way in almost all the districts of the country.
At least 35 people were killed in violence since January 5 and most of them died in arson attacks allegedly by anti-government blockaders. Fire service officials say at least 360 vehicles were torched during this period. However, the actual number is believed to be much higher.
The president of petrol pump owners' association thinks there is no need for open sale of fuels as the country now has around 550 filling stations, covering 90 percent upazilas.
"At least eight times in the past eight years, we had requested the authorities concerned, including the home ministry and the police headquarters, to take steps for checking unregulated sales of fuel oils. But nothing happened until now," said Nazmul.
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