Miscreants cut down 117 improved-variety mango trees under cover of darkness in the Kazipara area of Nowhata municipality in Rajshahi's Paba upazila. It happened early on Wednesday (17 December) in a mango orchard beside Sindur Kusumbi Kazipara Non-Government Primary School.

Farmer Saidur Rahman lost two years of work, hopes and investment in a single night.

At the site, rows of mango trees lay cut at the base, with heaps of branches and leaves scattered across the ground. Many of the trees still carried new flower buds, but the miscreants brutally shattered that dream overnight.

Saidur Rahman said he planted 133 improved mango trees on 15.5 decimals of land in Sindur Kusumbi mouza two years ago. They included Baromashi, Katimon, Amrapali, Haribhanga, Gourmoti and BARI-4 varieties. From the start he did his best with regular irrigation, fertiliser and disease control. With many trees already flowering, he had been hoping to improve his family's finances by selling the fruit this year.

"Just yesterday I planted about 60 kg of garlic seed as a companion crop among the mango trees. We had big plans. But when I came at dawn, everything was finished. Of the 133 trees, 117 had been cut down. It feels as if someone has stabbed me in the chest," he said.

He puts the loss, including the cost of tending the trees and other expenses, at about Tk 3 lakh. But the damage is not only financial: two years of labour, future income and his family's livelihood have all collapsed at once.

Local residents said the area is relatively quiet, which made it easy for the culprits to carry out such sabotage late at night. On hearing the news, nearby farmers and residents rushed to the site.

Local resident Monowara Begum said there should be no enmity with trees. The culprits must be quickly identified, arrested and given exemplary punishment, she said, adding that such incidents are not only one farmer's loss but also harm the area's farm output and environment.

Isha Khan, a farmer from Kazipara, said: "This is not simple mischief; it was planned. Such treatment of a farmer's life cannot be accepted. Today it is Saidur Rahman, tomorrow someone else. If this goes on, people will lose interest in farming."

Locals suspect an old enmity, a land dispute or some other motive may lie behind it.

Saidur Rahman has filed a written complaint with Paba police station.

SI Protap Kumar, the investigating officer at Paba police station, said the site was visited and a preliminary investigation carried out after the complaint. All angles, including old enmity and land disputes, are being investigated, and the culprits will be identified and brought to justice, he said.

Reported by Sakhawat Hossain.

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