Thirty-eight research cocks have been stolen from the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI) in Savar, Dhaka.

The institute's information officer Debjyoti Ghosh said the birds were stolen on the night before Eid-ul-Adha. "I heard that it happened on the night before Eid. An investigation committee has been formed over the incident, and the matter is being dealt with administratively," he said.

According to sources, the cocks were stolen from the "pure line" male shed on the night before Eid-ul-Adha. The authorities learned of it straight after the theft but did not make it public and carried out an internal investigation. The shed held 300 cocks in total, and 38 RIR and White Leghorn cocks were stolen from it. These are two of the four breeds received as a gift from the Japanese government around 1999.

Dr Shakila Faruk, head of the Poultry Production Research Division and chief scientific officer at BLRI, said: "The incident happened mainly during the Eid holidays. I was on leave at the time. When I came to the office on 5 July, I got a letter and learned that an investigation committee had been formed."

Despite several attempts, BLRI director general Dr SM Jahangir Hossain could not be reached for comment.

Reported by Mahfuzur Rahman Nipu.

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