Miscreants destroyed the crops of nine farmers under cover of darkness in Bagha, Rajshahi, leaving handwritten notes behind. It happened at some point on Saturday night (5 November) in the Toltolipara field of Bausa union. The farmers found the notes when they went to check their fields on Sunday morning.

Eyewitnesses said the nine farmers grow guava and mango orchards and chilli, turmeric and aubergine in the Toltolipara field, some on their own land and some on leased land. Some of the plants were cut down and others were uprooted. Pots used to collect date-palm sap were also destroyed. Notes wrapped in polythene were left in the fields, with the handwritten words: "Moni Ratan Shariful Shakim member want car".

The damage found on a visit: 14 guava trees of Abul Kalam and seven of Shahabuddin; 25 chilli plants of Shahin Alam and 50 of Munsad Ali; seven mahogany trees of Babul Hossain; 10 aubergine and five papaya plants of Inchhar Ali; 20 clay date-sap pots of Amirul Islam; one mango tree of Abdul Mannan; and one katha of turmeric belonging to Saidul Islam.

Affected farmer Saidul Islam said he had no enmity with anyone and could not imagine who had done this. He said crops of several farmers in the same field had been damaged in the same way last year, with notes left behind.

Abul Kalam leased five bighas in Toltolipara field for five years at Tk 20,000 a bigha, Tk 5 lakh in all, to set up a guava orchard. Fourteen of his guava trees were cut down. He took a loan from an NGO to grow the crop and has suffered a heavy loss.

Munsad Ali, a chilli farmer of Bausa Bheralipara village, said: "I leased one bigha from Moyen Uddin to grow chilli. Someone uprooted 50 plants on that land at night. I demand justice."

Shakim Uddin, member for ward 4 of Bausa union parishad, said his name had been written on the note and left at the damaged sites. "The incident is sad. I demand a proper investigation and that those involved be brought to justice," he said.

Bausa union parishad chairman Nur Mohammad Tufan said the farmers had told him about the matter and shown him the notes.

Upazila agriculture officer Shafiullah Sultan said the farmers had informed him by mobile phone and the affected land had been inspected.

Bagha police station officer-in-charge (OC) Sajjad Hossain said he was aware of the matter. The culprits would be identified through investigation and action taken, he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.