Fewer buyers frustrate traders

“People are still under anthrax panic and reluctant to buy cows for sacrificing during the Eid-ul Azha”, Lablu Mia, a cattle trader in Gabtali market told this correspondent yesterday.
“Though the 14 cattle markets in the capital experienced dull trade in the last two days, those had become vibrant from yesterday”, he added.
Camels are also being traded in Gabtali cattle market. Lokman, a trader who brought ten camels this time said that he had already sold four sacrificial animals at Tk 3 lakh each.
But the prices of goats are almost 40 per cent up compared to the previous year.
“I bought two goats from Harirampur thana under Manikganj district at Tk 12 thousand each which was Tk 7 to 8 thousand each last year,” goat trader Foez Mia waiting with half a dozen of goats on the Mirpur road informed.
Earlier, people who used to sacrifice cows they have shifted to goats this year, he added.
A number of customers on the spot however echoed Foez’s claim and some of them even admitted that they got clear instructions from their families not to go for cows this year.
Apart from the 14 cattle markets many traders were seen selling their cattle on sidewalks mainly to avoid hassles from the toll collectors.
Many cattle traders said that though ‘we had to spend extra money to rear cows due to price hike of fodder, the prices of cattleheads were not satisfactory’.
Besides the authorised markets, cattle markets are organised unofficially in many places in the capital including Bonasri, Hajaribagh, Rahmatganj, Ajampur, Meradia, Armanitola, Khilkhet and Uttar Sajahanpur.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Sahara Khatun yesterday said stern action would be taken if any of the police personnel were found to be involved in extortion in the cattle markets.
No incident of extortion has been reported so far in the cattle markets of the city and the cattle traders are running their business peacefully, the minister told the reporters after visiting two cattle markets - one at Taltola and the other near the orthopaedic hospital.
Replying to a query, Sahara Khatun said the city dwellers should feel secure during the Eid as the law enforcement agencies were carrying out drives against the muggers and other criminals.
Law-enforcement agencies would be kept alert to ensure people’s safety, the minister said and urged the people to inform the police if any untoward incident took place during the Eid vacation.
-The Independent