Rats damage everything from household furniture to crops in the field. Killing them was once a passion for Anowar Hossain of Joypurhat; over time it has become his profession. He kills rats in homes and fields and is paid in rice or cash, and with that he supports his wife and two children.

He has been killing rats for 25 years. For killing four lakh rats he has received a national award in recognition.

Anowar Hossain lives in Tilakpur Bhattapalashi village in Akkelpur upazila of Joypurhat. He first began killing rats as a hobby, and then won prizes from the local agriculture office for handing in rat tails. Everyone in the area now calls him "Indur Anowar" (Rat Anowar). Besides making a living from it, he has won several local and national awards, and has taken up rat killing as both profession and passion.

Speaking to Anowar Hossain and local people, it is learned that 25 years ago, as a young man, he one day dug paddy out of a rat hole in a rice field. He gave that paddy to a puffed-rice seller in exchange for muri. After that he often collected and sold the paddy rats had hidden in holes in the fields, and killed the rats that came out of the holes.

One day an agriculture officer told him to hand in the tails of dead rats at the local agriculture office. After he handed in more than a hundred tails, he was given some wheat and rice as support. From then on Anowar took up rat killing as his profession. A father of two, Anowar Hossain lives happily with his wife.

Farmers Al Mamun, Milon Hossain and Abdus Samad of Tilakpur Bhattapalashi village said that rats damage not only Aman paddy but every kind of crop, starting with potatoes. Rat damage is worst in the Aman season, and "Anowar bhai" is protecting these crops from rats.

His wife, Rubi Begum, always stands by him and helps with the work. The family is doing well, and Anowar Hossain is proud of himself and his family for the awards he has won. In 25 years he has killed nearly four lakh rats. In 2004 he received a national-level award for killing 23,451 rats.

Anowar Hossain said he has taught 57 people in the area how to catch and kill rats. They now respond whenever a farmer calls and catch the rats, and they run their households on what they are paid. All of them regard him as their master in rat killing.

He has also taught many people from other districts. They come from different parts of the country to learn the work from him hands-on.

Mst Rahela Parvin, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Joypurhat, said a national rat-killing campaign is held every year to protect farmers' crops, and Anowar Hossain has won several local and national awards in it. If every district had more people like Anowar, crop losses would fall considerably, she said. The local agriculture department has always been with him and will remain so.

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