It is the highest penalty awarded for polluting environment at Chittagong port channel so far.

Sources said the court in a three-hour drive found that Bangladeshi flag carrier MV Banga Biraj, which arrived from Singapore yesterday and anchored at jetty no 13, was discharging the sludge.

The court held Chief Engineer Mostafa Anwar, Master Captain AKM Alamgir and Chief Officer Captain Md Shahjalal of the vessel responsible for the massive pollution and fined them Tk 1 lakh, Tk 75000 and Tk 50000 respectively.

Soon the owning company of the vessel started collecting the sludge at the behest of the court to make the channel pollution-free, sources said.

The court also directed the company to take disciplinary actions against the officials responsible.

Our Chittagong Correspondent adds: A mobile court of Power Development Board (PDB) in the port city yesterday unearthed several incidents of electricity pilferage at Bakalia and summoned four people in this connection.

It also sent Md Ekhtiar Hossain, an electrician, to jail for providing illegal electrical connections to different residences of that area.

Sources said the court in a drive led by PDB Magistrate Mohiuddin Al Faruq at Mousumi Residential Area unearthed huge pilferage of power at the residence of one Abul Kalam, a former chief engineer of Chittagong Development Authority (CDA).

Kalam was pilfering electricity by installing five metres and illegal connections taken from two different transformers.

The residence had as many as seven air-coolers, four water heaters and other electrical appliances that used to consume about 40KW.

The court filed a case and summoned Engineer Kalam after disconnecting the illegal supply lines of the residence.

It also found another three residences of the same area pilfering electricity and summoned the owners, identified as Shamsuddin Md Ilias, Dr Mizanur Rahman and Liakat Ali Chowdhury.

The court later arrested Ekhtiar for helping the residences in pilfering electricity.