Fake fertiliser and pesticide factory sealed in Naogaon, one jailed

The administration has conducted a joint raid on a factory named 'SD Agrovet' in Mahadebpur of Naogaon on charges of producing fake fertiliser and pesticide. The establishment was fined two lakh taka and one person was sentenced to one month of imprisonment without labour.

The raid was carried out from dawn until 10:45 in the morning on Saturday (7 November) in the Shibganj Bazar and Shibganj Dariapara areas of the upazila.

A team of the National Security Intelligence (NSI), the SRB and police jointly took part in the raid. The mobile court verdict was delivered by Jannatul Naim binte Aziz, assistant commissioner (land) of Mahadebpur upazila.

After the raid, the illegal factory was completely sealed and shut down. Several tonnes of fake fertiliser and pesticide, along with harmful equipment and chemicals used to make adulterated products, were seized from the spot.

Among those punished is Md Delowar Hossain, son of the late Motahar Hossain of Shibganj village. He was sentenced to one month of imprisonment without labour and fined one lakh taka. His brother Mohammad Shahinur Alam, the other owner of the factory, was absent, so his wife Hasnat Jahan Papia was fined one lakh taka under section 31(1) of the Pesticide Act, 2018.

According to local administration sources, after the death of Motahar Hossain of Shibganj village, his two sons Mohammad Shahinur Alam and Delowar Hossain had been running two separate factories under the name 'SD Agrovet'.

Inside a house in the village, substandard and adulterated products — including boron, organic fertiliser, cypermethrin and chalk for killing cockroaches — had long been made secretly in unhygienic conditions and marketed. Local farmers buying these harmful products had been suffering serious deception and financial loss.

The administration said the joint raid was conducted on the basis of secret information from the NSI.

Mahadebpur Upazila Agriculture Officer Hosain Mohammad Ershad said the establishment had approval to make boron and organic fertiliser, but it could not show any valid documents for making cypermethrin and cockroach-killing chalk. Samples of their approved products have been collected and sent to a laboratory to check their quality.

Assistant Commissioner (Land) Jannatul Naim binte Aziz said a fine of two lakh taka was imposed and one person was sentenced to one month of imprisonment without labour in the raid. Such drives will continue in the future to protect farmers' interests and stop adulteration, she said.