115 of 197 fertiliser sacks recovered after farmers' protest in Kurigram

A total of 115 sacks of fertiliser out of 197 looted from a dealer's warehouse in Kurigram's Bhurungamari upazila have been recovered after angry farmers took them on Sunday. The remaining 82 sacks are yet to be found. The warehouse owner has filed a written complaint with the police, and a five-member investigation committee has been formed by the upazila administration to look into the incident.

Farmers had alleged that despite fertiliser stock being available at the warehouse of Messrs Shah Amanat Enterprise in the Shilkhuri union, they were not being given their due. Following this, a group of agitated farmers broke into the warehouse on Sunday morning and took away 197 sacks of fertiliser.

As of Monday afternoon, 115 sacks had been recovered. Efforts are ongoing to recover the remaining 82 sacks.

The owner of Messrs Shah Amanat Enterprise, Taifur Rahman Mukul, filed a written complaint with Bhurungamari Police Station on the day of the incident. The upazila agriculture department has also issued a show-cause notice to the BCI fertiliser dealer.

To investigate the cause of the incident, the upazila administration formed a five-member probe committee, headed by Assistant Commissioner (Land) Aminul Haque Tareq, with Upazila Agriculture Officer Abdul Jabbar as member secretary. Other members include Upazila Election Officer Nazmul Huda, Upazila Project Implementation Officer Sabuj Kumar Gupta and Upazila Academic Supervisor Saifur Rahman.

On Monday, the committee members visited the spot and spoke with eyewitnesses, the dealer and farmers.

Committee head Aminul Haque Tareq said the scene was being inspected and the incident investigated by speaking to all parties involved. Details will be shared later.

Bhurungamari Police Station Officer-in-Charge Azim Uddin confirmed that the dealer had filed a written complaint.

Upazila Executive Officer Amrita Devnath said 115 sacks had been recovered so far. The dealer has been served a show-cause notice. The probe committee has been asked to submit a report by Monday.