The office of the Jute Commissioner has launched a major crackdown on the illegal hoarding and black marketing of raw jute in West Bengal, seizing around 10,000 quintals of the commodity during a series of raids conducted on Tuesday.
According to sources in the concerned government department, the raids were carried out in multiple districts under the provisions of the Jute and Jute Textiles Control Order, 2016. The action followed specific intelligence inputs against traders and hoarders allegedly stockpiling raw jute beyond prescribed limits to artificially inflate market prices.
An official from the Jute Commissioner’s office in Kolkata said that authorised officers exercised powers under Section 9 of the 2016 Control Order to inspect warehouses and other suspected storage locations in Malda, Murshidabad, North 24 Parganas, and Nadia districts. During the operations, raw jute stored illegally in 16 warehouses was seized.
The seized jute has been supplied to concerned jute mills to ensure uninterrupted production and to safeguard the interests of jute mill workers, officials said.
The Jute Commissioner has also initiated strict legal action against companies found guilty of illegal hoarding. Complaints are being forwarded to the Enforcement Branch of the West Bengal Police for prosecution under Section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.
Officials pointed out that under the Essential Commodities Act, District Magistrates are empowered to seize goods hoarded in violation of government orders. In addition, the Jute Commissioner has authorised officers of the West Bengal Police Enforcement Branch and the Kolkata Police to carry out further searches and raids against illegal hoarders across the state.
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