Victim of bitter vendetta
Aman plants destroyed by spraying poison
BARBARIC VENGEANCE! Aggrieved over a land dispute, rivals destroy newly planted aman seedlings by spraying poisonous chemicals on around two and a half acres of land of their opponents at Chouddaburia village in Patuakhali Sadar upazila on Sunday night.Photo: STAR
Criminals destroyed newly planted aman seedlings of about two and a half acres of land at Chouddaburia village of Kamlapur union in Patuakhali Sadar upazila by spraying poison on Sunday night. Six cows also became sick after eating grass from the field. Following a complaint from cropland owner Eusuf Melker, also an MLSS of Choddhaburia Senior Madrasah, Patuakhali superintendent of police yesterday asked the officer in charge of Patuakhali police station to take lawful action after proper investigation. "A gang commanded by Ashrab Ali Melker of the same village destroyed our plants by spraying chemicals in the fields on Sunday night. We have a land dispute with them and a civil case is running with a Patuakhali court in this regard. The rivals destroyed our aman plants when they realised that they would lose the case," goes the complaint. "Seeing that our newly planted aman seedlings on five fields comprising 2.47 acres of land turned yellow and lay slanting on Monday morning, my father became senseless. The plants died as harmful chemicals were sprayed there," Delwar Melker, son of Eusuf Melker, said. Farmer Jalal Melker said, "My five cows have already become sick as I fed them grass cut from one of the poisoned fields yesterday. A cow of Forkan Sikder, another farmer, also became sick due to the same reason." "I have seen never seen such an incident in my life. I demand punishment to the culprits," said Abdul Qader Fakir, 60, a locally revered person. Asked about the matter over cellphone, Ashrab Ali Melker denied the allegation against him and said, "I have been in Dhaka for 15 days and I did not know anything about the matter." AZM Momtazul Karim, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture Extension, said, "I sent a field level officer to see the matter and report on it."
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