Mad rush in Rajshahi to buy salt, two arrested over hoarding
The rumour did not cause any hike in salt prices in the city
Being driven by a rumour about a salt crisis, people in Rajshahi on Tuesday rushed to different shops and queued up to buy salt in advance.
An added pressure of customers led to a rapid run-out of the salt stock in those shops. But that did not cause any hike in salt prices in the city.
Our Rajshahi correspondent informed us that coarse salt was selling for Tk20 per kg and table salt at Tk30 to Tk35 per kg in the city market.
Meanwhile, many traders stopped selling the kitchen item as pressure piled up on them on the back of a sudden rush of buyers, while many were selling the commodity on a condition that customers must buy other goods along with it.
Khairul Hasan, the owner of Bhagu Mia Store at Rajshahi's Shaheb Bazar, said he sold 20 kg salt within half an hour on Tuesday afternoon.
Aminul Islam, the owner of Al-Hajj Amzad Hossain Store, said he sold salt at Tk100 per kg and many bought three to five kgs at a time.
Robin, another retailer, said his stock of 75 kg salt had already sold out by the afternoon.
Buyers said they were worried about the news regarding a salt crunch in the market and so came to buy the product in advance.
Bishnu Roy, a resident of the city's Sipaipara, said no sooner had he learnt about the news of a crisis, he purchased 10 packets of coarse salt.
Sharmin Khatun, a student of the Rajshahi Mohila College, bought six kgs for herself. She said, "We are already having food without onions. But food without salt is impossible."
Two arrested over stockpiling salt
A mobile court, in a drive in the city, arrested two salt traders on a charge of hoarding the commodity.
Abu Aslam, the additional district magistrate, led the mobile court. He said the duo were arrested as they stockpiled 150 kg salt which they procured beyond the amount mentioned in their challan.
There is no shortage in salt supply in Rajshahi. Various companies have enough stock of the item, he said, urging people not to pay a heed to any rumour.