Mohammad Selim, a cattle trader from Natore, arrived at the Shanir Akhra cattle market in Jatrabari, Dhaka, a week before Eid-ul-Azha with ten cows and hopes of a good profit. In the days that followed he managed to sell only four.

Low prices and selling at a loss no longer trouble him, because a bigger blow followed. Late on the night of Tuesday 26 May, one of his cows, valued at Tk 2.8 lakh, was stolen from the market. He is leaving the capital with that grief.

He was found at the Shanir Akhra market around noon on Eid day, Thursday 28 May, as the area emptied out. He had parked his truck at a spot set aside by the market authorities by the roadside and was loading his five unsold cows.

"I dozed off that night and fell asleep," Selim told Jago News. "The two men with me had been vomiting for some reason, and they also fell ill and went to sleep. I never noticed when the cow was taken. We searched hard but found no trace. I asked the market authorities to look for it, but they did their duty by just making an announcement on the loudspeaker. Cattle prices are already low. With travel costs, and buying dear and selling cheap, we had lost money. Now, losing the cow, it is nothing but loss after loss."

He said the cow may have been stolen between 2am and 3am. "They (the market authorities) keep announcing on the loudspeaker that no cow should be sold without paying the market fee. We did not sell this cow. So how was it taken out without the fee? They made no effort to trace it. They told us to inform the police. We did not go into that trouble."

"This was the first time in my life I came to Dhaka to sell cattle, and it is the last," Selim said angrily. "I will go back with the losses, the hardship and the cattle. I will never bring cattle to Dhaka again. People here are not good."

After loading four cows, he pointed to a black-and-white bull as it was being put on the truck. "I bought it for Tk 4 lakh, and they are offering Tk 2.8 to 2.9 lakh. Is this any way to sell a cow? I paid Tk 1,600 per cow in truck fare, and now I have to pay the fare again."

Md. Zakir Hossain brought 14 cows from Alfadanga in Faridpur and sold five. "Sales did not meet my target," he told Jago News. "Prices here (in Dhaka) are lower than in the village. The cows I sold all went for between Tk 1.14 lakh and Tk 1.4 lakh. Yet other traders from our area sold at higher prices in the village a day or two before Eid. They are all at home and we are at the market. No Eid, no proper meals, no management at the market, and no one to look after us."

"I wanted to go home with the unsold cattle much earlier, but could not without the market authorities' decision and permission. We had already made a loss, and now we have spent even more on food and lodging," he added.

Overall, the last-minute picture at the capital's cattle markets this year was deeply disappointing for sellers. Failing to get the prices they hoped for, many traders and farmers sold their animals at a loss, while others are heading home with unsold animals.

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