The police force is determined to root out any syndicate, said the newly appointed Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Habibur Rahman today.
"Police will work with the monitoring committee of the commerce ministry and the directorate of consumer rights protection. If necessary, police will also participate in drives with the city corporation. So that we can deal with any situation at any time. We are determined to root out any syndicate," he said speaking at a special meeting held at the DMP office on Thursday (12 October).
"There is no shortage of anything in the market. But in some cases, crises are created due to vested interests. Earlier, many raw materials were stuck in Daulatdia Ghat and rotted. After the construction of Padma Bridge, there are no longer any goods stuck there," he added.
In response to a question from journalists about whether the market is in danger of instability ahead of the election, the DMP commissioner said, "There is no specific danger. There is perhaps a lack of coordination. The monitoring system we have in place cannot be controlled by the consumer rights directorate or the police alone. Commodity prices in the market are determined on the basis of supply and demand. Bangladesh is keeping pace with the rest of the world."
"There is sufficient supply. No trader has said any product is not available. All products are available and the prices are kept in line with the international market," he added.
"Bangladesh is third in the world in vegetable production. We are not supposed to be like this. The issue is the lack of coordination, if everyone works together, if everyone cooperates then it is definitely possible to control the market," Habibur Rahman said.
"It is not clear to us that there is any political impropriety regarding the syndicates. We have intelligence agencies working. If something like this comes to us, I want to say clearly, that Dhaka Metropolitan Police is active against any syndicate and we have the capability to break any syndicate," he further said responding to a question.
