Criminals fell 700 guava trees

VENGEANCE OR WICKED PLEASURE! Criminals cut down over 700 trees at the guava orchard owned by Abul Kalam and Shamsul Sardar at Jagannathpur village in Ishwardi upazila under Pabna district on Monday night. PHOTO: STAR

Criminals felled over 700 guava trees on 12 bighas of land at Jagannathpur village under Ishwardi upazila of the district on Monday night, causing damage worth around Tk 15 lakh.
Locals said most fruit-bearing trees at two orchards owned Abul Kalam and Shamsul Sardar were cut down by unidentified criminals at dead of night.
Kalam and Shamsul leased the land from two people of the village and planted guava trees on the land. “We cultivated guava on 12 bighas of land, spending Tk 10 lakh. we hoped to earn at least Tk 15 lakh by selling the popular fruit, but criminals dashed our dreams,” said Shamsul.
Shamsul and Kalam told this correspondent that it would be difficult for them to recoup the losses caused by criminal attack on their guava orchards.
They urged the local administration and law enforcers to unearth the clue to the attack and arrest the criminals involved.
Contacted, Officer-in-charge (OC) Md Akbar Hossain of Ishwardi Police Station said they have heard about the incident. “If the victims file case in connection with the incident, we will go for legal action,” the OC added.
No case was lodged with the police station concerned as of filing of this report at 6:00pm yesterday.