Fake hand sanitiser factory in Dhaka busted

As there is a high demand for hand sanitiser due to Covid-19 pandemic, they set up a factory and started producing hand rub without using its prime element -- isopropyl alcohol.

They only used colour, fragrance, gel and spirit to make the sanitiser. For the last three months, they have produced several lakh bottles of hand rub and sold those in the market.

Even just a week back, they sold two lakh bottles of hand sanitiser in the market.

A mobile court of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab-10) conducted a drive today in a factory that was producing the fake hand sanitiser. The mobile court has sentenced the factory owners and two others to two years of imprisonment for making fake medical products.

The convicted are: factory owner Md Kazi Munna (25) and his associates Md Shanto (24) and Md Sabbir Sattar (22).

On information, Rab-10 mobile court conducted a drive in the capital's Jatrabari area around 3:00pm and seized around one lakh bottles of fake hand rub from there, Palash Kumar Bashu, executive magistrate of Rab, who led the drive, told The Daily Star.

The mobile court also fined Abdul Mannan Bhuyan (67) Tk two lakh for renting out his building to Munna to set up the factory.

Palash Bashu said that the factory owner Munna did not continue studies after class five. He used to collect chemicals from Mitford and bottles from Kamrangirchar area and started producing the fake hand rub, he said.

They used to sell the product under the name "Handsol Hand Rub".

But, they never used the main element isopropyl alcohol as it was costly and they have no idea about its efficacy, said the executive magistrate.

Asked about the distribution, Palash Bashu said that they used to sell the products to different people, pharmacies and on footpaths also. The product's MRP is Tk 80 but they often sold those at Tk 100-150 depending on market demand and situation, he added.

Last Friday and Saturday, a mobile court of Dhaka district administration, led by Executive Magistrate Mahnaz Hossain Fariba -- in separate drives in the capital's Shahbagh area -- fined pharmaceutical shop owners Tk 63,500 for selling fake sanitisers and disinfectant fluids.

Prof Dr Sultana Shahana Banu, head of virology department of Dhaka Medical College, said the use of low-quality medical products is one of the prime reasons behind the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the country.

The use of fake sanitisers or hand rub can be dangerous, as they may cause skin disease and sometimes cancer, she added.