"We were going to sell the farm's 150 chickens to buy new Eid clothes for everyone in the family and pay the school fees. With the rest of the money we would have bought new chicks and kept the farm going. But that did not happen. The whole family's Eid joy has faded. With the loss I have suffered, it will take at least six months just to get back on my feet."

So lamented Hridoy, a schoolboy, with tears in his eyes. He is the son of Hamidul Islam of Tepipara in West Malsadah village, Gangni upazila, Meherpur, and a Class 10 student at Gangni High School.

On the night of 29 March, miscreants cut the electricity to Hridoy's farm over a past enmity and deliberately killed more than 150 chickens.

Hridoy's father, Hamidul Islam, said he and his son had set up the poultry farm on the roof of their house together. The income paid for household expenses and the children's education. Last night miscreants deliberately cut the farm's power connection and also released some kind of gas, and all the chickens died in the heat.

He said the chickens began dying from midnight. Some of the dying birds were given to neighbours, and the rest are being buried in the ground, Hamidul Islam said.

Hridoy's mother, Beli Khatun, said: "As on other days, we worked at the poultry farm on the roof until midnight. A little after we came inside, we heard no sound from the chickens, and when we went to look, they were dying one after another."

She added that the family has no real enmity with anyone, but there is a land dispute with one person. Beli Khatun suspects he may be behind the incident.

Manojit Kumar Nandi, inspector (investigation) at Gangni police station, said no one has filed a complaint about the matter. Legal action will certainly be taken if a complaint is received.

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