Thirty-three geese have died after eating grass sprayed with pesticide at a crop field in Niamatpur, Naogaon. The incident happened on the morning of Saturday 15 October in Dharmapur village of Sadar union in the upazila. The owner of the geese, Tripti Rani, has lodged a written complaint (general diary) with the police station.

According to the complaint, Shariful Islam, son of Abu Hossain of Ramnagar village in the upazila, applied pesticide to control weeds on the ridges of his own land in Dharmapur village, without telling anyone in the area. In the morning Tripti Rani, wife of Gour Shil of the village, took her 33 geese to a garden beside the land as she did every day. The geese went onto the field ridge, ate the grass and died shortly afterwards.

Tripti Rani alleged that the landowner had told no one about spraying poison. "As every day, I took the geese to the garden next to that land. Because the land is fenced with net, the geese ate the grass on the ridge and died. When I told the landowner, Shariful Islam, he admitted applying pesticide. I want justice," she said.

Shariful Islam said: "I applied pesticide to the land on Friday evening. The geese did not go onto my land or its ridges. They died of some other cause."

Humayun Kabir, officer in charge (OC) of Niamatpur police station, said: "We have received the complaint. Police have been sent to the spot. Necessary action will be taken after investigation."

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