Staff Reporter:
Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood yesterday told the Parliament that a total of 542,000 liters of fuel oil have so far been seized through mobile court drives conducted across the country.
Mobile courts and vigilance teams are actively working nationwide to curb overpricing, illegal hoarding and smuggling of fuel, he said while replying to a scripted question from ruling party lawmaker Md Abul Kalam (Cumilla-9).
“Through 9,116 drives, a total of 3,510 cases have been filed, fines amounting to Tk 1,56,09,650 have been realised, and 542,000 litres of fuel have been recovered,” said the minister.
In his question, Abul Kalam MP asked what steps have been taken to prevent hoarding and black mar-keting of fuel as a group of unscrupulous businessmen is there to fall the government in trouble.
In response, Iqbal Hassan mentioned 12 steps taken by the government to prevent the hoarding and black marketing of fuel.
The steps include the formation of vigilance teams at district levels and at Bangladesh Petroleum Corpo-ration (BPC) were formed to monitor fuel supply and distribution, alongside a dedicated monitoring team at the ministry.
A ‘central control cell’ has also been established comprising officials from the ministry, BPC, Petro-bangla and marketing companies to oversee fuel import, storage, supply and distribution.
Since March 9, 2026, the cell has been holding daily virtual meetings with deputy commissioners and relevant officials to address district-level fuel demand issues in real time, he said.
To ensure transparency in supply, district administrations have been instructed to keep an executive mag-istrate present during fuel dispatch from depots while arrangements have been made to provide police escorts during transportation of fuel to filling stations, he added.
Law enforcement patrols have been strengthened in waterways and border areas to prevent smuggling, while members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and the army have been deployed to ensure de-pot security, said the minister.
Police have been directed to intensify patrols around filling stations, and tag officers have been appoint-ed for each petrol pump, he said.
Regular drives are being carried out to stop illegal stockpiling, and a fuel pass system has been intro-duced at district levels, which has witnessed success in solving the problem, said the Minister.
