Nursery saplings worth lakhs poisoned by miscreants in Noakhali

As saplings were growing in his nursery, Mofizur Rahman was hoping to repay a Tk 12 lakh bank loan from the proceeds of their sale.

On this goal, he and his three sons worked hard for the last six months.

However, his dream to lead a better life has been shattered after a group of miscreants damaged his saplings by poisoning them with pesticides two days ago.

The incident took place in the dead of the night in Sullukia village of Noakhali Sadar upazila.

The family planted about 75,000 saplings on 60-decimal land, with estimated market prices of around Tk17 lakhs, as per the owner of the Maya Nursery.

They had teak (shegun), acacia (babla), belgium, lambu (khaya), eucalyptus, and rain trees, among others, were burned by poisoning pesticides, said the owners.

Photo: Collected

The owners of the nursery suspect that Abdul Hamid and his associates, neighbours of Mofizur, allegedly damaged the plants as they were involved in a dispute a day before the incident.

"This was my only income source. So much depends on the nursery. All is gone now. We have lost all capital as 90 percent of the nursery was damaged', said Harun Ur Rashid, son of Mofizur.

Mofizur, the president of a local mosque, said recently he had an altercation with a person named Abdul Hamid.

"He along with others was playing a game near the mosque during prayers. As it was causing discomfort to who gathered there for prayers, I stopped their game," he said, adding that it angered the accused.

However, one of the accused denied the allegation.

Talking to The Daily Star, Abdul Hamid, claiming his innocence, said he has no dispute with Mofizur.

"I want a proper investigation of the incident. I have no idea who did this. I don't have any idea about the poison used in the act," he added.

A written complaint was filed with Sudharam Model Police Station today against Abdul Hamid, Sumon, Akbor, Faruk, Badsha, Kamal and Raju.

Mir Jahedul Haque Rony, officer-in-charge of Sudharam Police Station, said they have launched an investigation.