A mobile court here on Thursday unearthed an illegal fire extinguisher manufacturing factory and fined it Tk one lakh for storing, marketing and processing substandard equipment.

Sources said the court led by Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) Magistrate Md Munir Chowdhury in a drive at Sheikh Mujib Road at Agrabad unearthed the fire extinguisher manufacturing factory M/s JB Enterprise and its owner Md Abul Bashar Bhuiyan was forfeited Tk one lakh.

During the drive the court found that different types of fire extinguishing equipment were being refilled with foam and gas from several big cylinders full of carbon dioxide and nitrogen without any precautionary or safety measures.

The court also found that the factory, running without required licences from Bangladesh Standard Testing Institute (BSTI) and Department of Explosive, was using old materials and equipment after painting and labelling them with stickers.

While enquired neither the owner nor the workers of the factory could tell the mobile court team about the ratio and composition of gas and foam contained in the cylinders, said the sources.

Meanwhile, the mobile court in separate anti-adulteration drives in the last nine days fined at least 11 hotels, restaurants, workshop and brickfield while it realised Tk eight lakh as forfeiture and awarded imprisonment to one person.

During the drives the court also seized eight metric tons flour, 400 kg spices, 25 kg edible oil and 800 kg lachchha semai.