A mobile court in Bandarban today demolished a brick kiln and fined it Tk 3 lakh in the district's Thanchhi upazila this afternoon for operating it illegally.

Thanchi acting upazila nirbahi officer Rakib Hasan Chowdhury confirmed it to The Daily Star.

On January 14, a mobile court conducted a raid at Sangu Brickfield (SBM), the only brick kiln in Thanchi upazila. The mobile court at the time fined the brick kiln Tk 100,000 and destroyed the fire furnace of the kiln for operating it despite the directives of the High Court.

However, the owner resumed its activities hours after the mobile court team left the spot.

This noon, the mobile court conducted another raid for the second time at the SBM bricks located in Ushamong Headman Para area, said the UNO.

During the raid, approximately 10 lakh unbaked bricks and over 100,000 baked bricks were destroyed.

Besides, more than 500 cubic feet of illegally collected forest firewood was seized and placed under the custody of the Forest Department, he said.

A case has also been filed with the Department of Environment (DoE) against the owner for causing environmental damage to the hills and illegally establishing the brick kiln, the UNO added.

The raid was conducted jointly with the upazila administration, the Department of Environment, the Forest Department, and the Fire Service Team.