The farmers of the Kakonhat municipal area under Godagari upazila in Rajshahi staged demonstrations on Thursday, protesting at high prices for fertilisers by a Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation dealer.
Around 200 farmers brought out a procession and staged a sit-in on the road in the Kakonhat Bazar area, demanding the cancellation of the licence of the local BCIC dealer, Messrs GK Traders owned by Tuhina Akhter.
The sit-in disrupted traffic movement on the road from 11:30am to 12:30pm.
The protesting farmers alleged that the dealer was charging much higher prices than government-set prices for fertilisers such as muriate of potash, known as MOP, di-ammonium phosphate, known as聽DAP, and triple superphosphate, known as TSP.
Mehedi Hasan, one of the protesters, alleged that Tuhina was selling a 50kg bag of DAP fertiliser for up to Tk 1,500, while the government-fixed rate was Tk 1,050.
鈥榃hen we question her about the inflated price, she threatens to file false cases against us,鈥� he claimed.
The protesters also alleged that they were often not given official money receipts and, in some cases, forced to pay extra to receive any supply.
The farmers threatened to go for tougher movement if the dealership of Messrs GK Traders was not cancelled soon.
Tuhina Akhter was not present at her shop Thursday afternoon. Her father, Tahasen Ali, who was at the store at the time, denied all allegations.
鈥榃e are selling fertilisers at fair prices. This is a conspiracy against us,鈥� he claimed.
Godagari upazila nirbahi officer Faisal Ahmed said that the farmers had lodged a written complaint against Messrs GK Traders in the past week, and he had formed an investigation committee in this connection.
