Miscreants cut down more than 800 mango trees belonging to a farmer, Selim Reza (29), late at night in Shibganj, Chapainawabganj. The incident took place on the night of Friday 7 February in the No. 4 Bandh area of Ghorapakhia union in the upazila.

The farmer filed a complaint with Shibganj police station on Saturday morning, but did not name anyone in it.

It is learnt that two years ago Selim Reza, a farmer of Ranihati union, leased 9 bigha of land with a loan from an NGO and planted 1,700 mango trees of various varieties, including Katimon, BARI-4 and Amrapali. The trees had come into blossom, but miscreants cut down more than 800 of them late at night, leaving him worried.

Selim Reza said: "I built this mango orchard with great difficulty, on loans. My hopes have not been fulfilled. Someone cut the trees down in the middle of the night. I want justice for this crime. So far I have taken on loans of about Tk 8 to 10 lakh for this orchard. How will I repay this money?"

Local resident Ali Hasan said that with the trees cut down, Selim cannot work out what to do now, and whoever cut them should be punished.

Mofiz Uddin, the local union parishad member, said that because the incident happened in the dark of night, no one can be specifically accused. A complaint has been filed with the police and the culprit will be found, he said.

Hasan Ali, sub-inspector (SI) at Shibganj police station, said: "I have visited the spot. Necessary action will be taken subject to investigation."

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