--Attack on traders near parliament

--Traders stabbed, beaten; 16 cows snatched

--Empty truck found in Ashulia, driver held

Five traders were attacked and their cattle-laden truck hijacked near parliament in Dhaka this morning ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.

Injured Chandu, 45, Masud, 24, Tanzimul, 25, Sujon, 26, Thandu, 45, took treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

The traders were bringing a batch of cows to Dhaka, Mozammel Haque, in-charge of the hospital's police outpost, said quoting the victims.

The hijackers waylaid them with a van near the parliament, he said. The traders were stabbed and beaten up. Sixteen cows were hijacked from them.

The truck was seized from Ashulia within hours and the driver nabbed, said DG Biswas, officer-in-charge of Sher-e-Bangla Police Station.

"The driver Sujon has been detained. But the cows are missing. We are trying our best to recover the hijacked cows," he told The Daily Star.

Attacks on cattle-traders rose ahead of Eid-ul-Azha in the past. Such attacks are usually aimed at stealing cows that would be put up on sale to be sacrificed in the Eid.

Cattle markets are expected to open in Dhaka today. Traders have been pouring in the capital for the past few days with their herd. Eid will be held on September 25.