Boro on an acre destroyed by chemicals in Nilphamari

Miscreants destroyed boro paddy by spraying harmful chemicals on an acre of land at Saronjabari village of Chandkhana union under Kishoreganj upazila of the district on Sunday night.

"Today morning I went to my boro field but to my horror I found the crop on the entire field badly burnt," Shahjahan Ali, 35, the affected farmer, told this correspondent yesterday.

"As I called Md Arif, sub assistant agriculture officer (SAAO) of Chandkhana union, to know the reason, he checked the plants and said the disaster was caused due to spraying of harmful chemicals," he said.

Contacted by this correspondent, SAAO Md Arif confirmed the matter.

Visiting the spot at noon, it was found that the leaves of the burnt boro plants turned reddish or whitish.

In this connection, Shahjahan filed a case with Kishoreganj Police Station yesterday accusing six people including his neighbours Kamruzzaman, 35, and Abu Sayed, 32.

They might have committed the heinous crime as there is a dispute over the land, said Shahjahan and his uncle Abed Ali.

"I had to sell my cattle and trees and take loan from money lenders on high interest to manage Tk 30 thousand for cultivating boro in the field. All my hopes are ruined now," said Shahjahan in a chocked voice.

The two rival groups engaged in a scuffle a few days ago when Kamruzzaman openly threatened to take revenge on Shahjahan, locals said.

The chairman of Chandkhana union parishad said on several occasions he tried to settle the dispute between the two opponent groups but failed.

Contacted, Kamruzzaman and Abu Sayed denied the allegation against them and claimed that Shahjahan himself burnt his boro field by spraying poisonous chemicals to make them fall in an odd position.

Mostafizur Rahman, officer in charge of Kishorganj police station, said police is investigating the matter seriously.