A man tied three children to a straw stack for five hours for “stealing two potatoes” from his field in Kangaish village of Hajiganj upazila on Thursday.

The children are Zidan, 12, son of Mainuddin; Siam, 11, son of Billal Hossain; and Siam's cousin Subarna, 11, of the village.

Zidan said they got two potatoes in the field of Mizan Mia when they went to his potato field to collect snail on Thursday afternoon.

Mizan caught them from the spot and took them to his house and verbally abused them.

At one stage, they were roped to a straw stack around 3:00pm and kept in this condition until 8:00pm amid shivering cold, Zidan told The Daily Star.

Locals said tying the minors outside amid cold was inhuman.

However, Mizan said thieves damaged a good portion of his potato field, and he was searching for those who damaged it. As he found the three children there, he caught them.

Hajiganj police said Mizan freed the children after journalists took pictures of the children.

Shah Alam, officer-in-charge of Hajiganj Police Station, said they would take action against Mizan if they received any written complaint against him.