Khatunganj broker disappears with Tk15 crore

A broker in Khatunganj wholesale market in Chattogram has gone missing without paying the sellers dues worth Tk15 crore.

Khatunganj traders said broker Bidhan Roy owes Tk6 crore to AM Traders, Tk1.5 crore to Alam Trading, Tk80 lakh to RM Enterprise, and several crores of taka to other traders who had sold edible oil and wheat to him on credit.

For a long time, Bidhan used to sell the products of importers and first-class traders to various mokams (houses) in different parts of the country and would pay the owners after selling the products.

On 23 August, some cheques given to the owners issued by Bidhan were dishonoured. After that, he went missing on 28 August.

On Sunday evening, his last location was detected somewhere near the Bhomra Land Port in Satkhira thru mobile tracking. Since then, he could not be traced. Traders think he may have fled to India through the land port.

Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Mahbubul Alam said they were trying to contact him through his relatives.

Back in 1986, a trader named Bibhuti Bhushan Roy was the first to disappear with Tk6 crore. Since then, at least 80 traders, who owe at least Tk2,000 crore to other traders, have gone AWOL to date.

Jamal Hossain, organising secretary of the Khatunganj Trade and Industries Association, said many traders had disappeared with money from this wholesale market, but this is the first time a broker had disappeared. A week has passed since the incident happened but no trace of him could be found as yet.

He further said that at one time traders would go missing when they were in debt after incurring a big loss. At present, there is a growing tendency among traders to criminally disappear with other traders' money without delivering products.

In Khatunganj, business entities have been trading various types of goods on credit for a long time. Buyers usually pay after a certain period – one day, three days, one week, two weeks or a month. Often, someone goes missing if he incurs a huge loss and fails to pay in time.