A mobile court led by magistrate Md. Rokan Ud Doulah yesterday raided the 'Afro-Asia' Ltd. on Tipu Sultan road, where they found workers had been mixing white chalk powder with boric acid powder. The workers of the factory admitted before the court that their employer directed them to do this to increase the quantity of the boric acid powder, a member present with the court said. The factory was shut down.

Boric acid is often used to treat cut and burn injuries.

One Tarun Kumar owned the factory, the owner of the house, Monjur Alam, said. The owner, who could not be found, runs the factory on the ground floor and first floor of a five storied building. The court arrested two of the factory workers, Kalu and Zakir, from the spot.

Earlier the court raided Dhaka Food Products and Asraf Food Industries Ltd., also on Tipu Sultan road. Md. Ashrafuzzaman has been running the medicine factory without any permission of the drug directorate, a source present with the mobile court said.

The factory has been producing different products like Tasty Oral Saline, Real Tasty and Tasty Chatni, as well as a brand of glucose powder. All the items were packaged without maintaining safety standards and proper ingredients. The court arrested Delowar Hossain, the manager of the factory.

The court ordered the Sutrapur police station to file a case under the Special Power Act-1974 against the fake drug items producers.

Another two mobile courts raided the Tejgaon and Gulshan areas, filing eight cases and fining TK 152,000 against restaurants, bakeries and other food traders for failing to maintain proper safety standards.

Our Sylhet correspondent adds: The manager of an unauthorized factory was taken into custody and materials worth about TK 7 lakh were seized by a mobile court. The court was denied entry into the same factory yesterday afternoon. The mobile court also fined the factory Tk two lakh and threw 21 barrels of contaminated items down the drain. Moreover, the court fined the manager Tk 21,000. However, the owner managed to escape the scene.

Yesterday afternoon, a mobile court headed by 2 magistrates --Mujibur Rahman and ANM Faizur Rahman and accompanied by BSTI men was barred from entering Preeti Food Products at the city's Lechubagan area. The manager and employees remained inside, locking the main gate to avoid the mobile court's visit. They told the court that without permission from their owner, it would not be possible to open the gate. On information the local Ward Commissioner, Koyes Lodi, and other leading people reached the factory and managed the magistrate's visit. The factory, with no license or approval from the BSTI or any other authority, had been running its business and marketing a variety of items such as pickles and fruit juices. It had also been using fake BSTI seals. Moreover, contaminated chemicals of different types were also being used. The owner of the factory, Syed Sarwar Reza, managed to escape while the Manager, Mostafizur Rahman, was arrested.