Ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, 36 cattle heading for Siddhirganj in Narayanganj were allegedly forcibly unloaded at a market in Bandar. The incident took place at Bandar's No. 1 ferry ghat around noon on 23 May as the cattle were being brought along the Shitalakshya river.

Cattle trader Md Doyal was bringing 36 cattle from Shahjadpur in Sirajganj by trawler along the Shitalakshya to the Navana market in Siddhirganj. Before the trawler passed the No. 1 ferry ghat in Bandar upazila, an organised group allegedly beat the trader and everyone else on board and forced them to unload the cattle at the ferry ghat market.

The victim, Md Doyal, told Jago News: "I was going to the Navana market in Siddhirganj with 36 cattle. On the way, several people forcibly stopped our trawler and unloaded the cattle at their market. One of our cattle's legs was broken. We are poor people; please protect us."

Abul Kausar Asha, son of Narayanganj-5 MP Abul Kalam and joint convener of Narayanganj city BNP, said he had heard the news and was heading to the scene, but had not yet been able to confirm who had stopped the cattle, as nobody could clarify the matter properly.

Pappu Ahmed, lessee of the ferry ghat cattle market in Bandar upazila, told Jago News that some people had unloaded the cattle, but they had been released and the trader had left with them. Nobody was beaten, he said.

Golam Moktar Ashrafuddin, officer-in-charge (OC) of Bandar police station, told Jago News he was aware of the matter and police were at the scene, but it had not yet been confirmed that the trader was beaten.

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