Natore trader loses a cow to theft at Dhaka's Shanir Akhra cattle market

A week before Eid-ul-Azha in 2026, Mohammad Selim, a cattle trader from Natore, brought ten cows to the Shanir Akhra cattle market in Jatrabari, Dhaka. According to a Jagonews24 report published on 28 May, he had managed to sell four in the days that followed. He said one of his cows was stolen from the market late on the night of Tuesday 26 May. Around noon on Eid day, Thursday 28 May, as the market emptied, he was loading his five unsold cows onto a truck parked at a roadside spot set aside by the market authorities.

Desh Rupantor reported on 23 May that this temporary market ran along both sides of the road from the Kajla bridge to the Shanir Akhra underpass in Jatrabari, with cattle, buffalo, goats and sheep arriving from districts across the country. With rain expected, the organisers had put up large tarpaulins and spread sand on low ground.

"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." He believed the cow was taken between 2am and 3am.

Selim was also unhappy with the market authorities. He said that when he asked them to trace the cow, they only made an announcement on the loudspeaker. "They keep announcing on the loudspeaker that no cow should be sold without paying the market fee (hasil)," he said. "We did not sell this cow. So how was it taken out without the fee?" He said the authorities told him to inform the police, but he did not go to them. The report carried no response from the market authorities.

Selim said it was the first time in his life he had brought cattle to Dhaka, and that he would never do so again. Loading a black-and-white bull, he said: "I bought it for Tk 4 lakh, and they are offering Tk 2.8 to 2.9 lakh." He had paid Tk 1,600 per cow in truck fare to come, and now had to pay the fare again to go home.

At the same market, Md. Zakir Hossain, who brought 14 cows from Alfadanga in Faridpur, had sold five. He told Jago News that prices in Dhaka were lower than in the village, and that the cows he sold fetched between Tk 1.14 lakh and Tk 1.4 lakh. He said he could not leave earlier without the market authorities' decision and permission, which added to his food and lodging costs. In Jago News's assessment, the last-minute picture at the capital's cattle markets was disappointing for sellers: many sold at a loss, and some were heading home with unsold animals.

At a press conference of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock on 3 May, the government said demand for sacrificial animals that year was 1,01,06,334, against more than 1.23 crore animals available. These included 56,95,878 cattle and buffalo and 66,32,307 goats and sheep. With supply above demand, no imports were needed, the ministry said.

Selim's home district also had more animals than it needed. Citing the district livestock office, NTV Online reported on 18 May that Natore had 4,75,437 animals ready against a demand of 2,74,611, a surplus of 2,00,826 that were being sent to Dhaka and other districts.

According to an ITV report of 23 May, 12 cattle markets were to operate in Dhaka North and 11 in Dhaka South that year, with formal trading starting on Sunday 24 May and running for five days. Law enforcement members were to be deployed at the markets for the safety of buyers and sellers.

Photo: Wasiul Bahar / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sources: Jagonews24, Desh Rupantor, NTV Online, ITV