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Prices of locally-breed cattle are on the increase in the city markets, it was found while visiting various sacrificial animal markets.
Traders said that extortion of tolls at different highway points stretching from Jessore to Chittagong, resulted in the rise of transport costs and cow feed over the last one year. They blamed the crime for the skyrocketing prices of local cattle.
Traders said that the prices of sacrificial animals -- mainly bulls -- rose between Tk 4000 and Tk 5000 on an average against last year's price.
A medium-sized bull is now selling between Tk 30,000 and Tk 35,000 against Tk 25,000-Tk 30,000 during previous year's Eid-ul-Azha.
Sources from Chittagong cattle markets added that the prices of sacrificial animals have also witnessed galloping trends there and has already increased between Tk 3000 and Tk 4000 on an average.
However, veteran cattle traders told the FE that the prices of cattle might drop to a large extent in the run up to the Eid after sales of cattle starts in full swing within the next two or three days.
They also argued that the inflow of Indian cattle would contribute to lowering the cattle prices, although the presence of Indian cows is still thin in the local markets despite the fact that a around 1.01 million cattle have already arrived from that country.
Abdur Razzak of Baghabari in Sirajganj told the FE that the price surge of cow feed marked a significant upward trend over last one year.
"We are paying Tk 550 per bag of 32kg fodder against Tk 300 last year. Besides, the cost of transporting a truckful of cattle from Sirajganj to Dhaka has increased by Tk 3000 during the period," he added.
"We paid nearly Tk 1000 as tolls at two points to police personnel including one in the middle of Padma river while coming to Dhaka by a launch Wednesday night", Mohammed Jahangir, a cattle trader of Bhanga in Faridpur said.
Cattle Trader Mizan alleged that police forcibly extorted Tk 3,000 from him while coming to Dhaka from Jessore with 30 cattle head by a truck.
"They (traffic police) sent two minor boys to us and asked us to pay the amount in Magura", he claimed.
While visiting some important cattle markets of the city including Gabtoli, Kamalapur, it was found that the number of buyers was few and far between. Traders hinted that cattle markets would witness a bullish trend with huge crowds within next couple of days.
"I brought 17 bulls from Tangail Tuesday last, but there was no sales till Thursday afternoon", Mohammed Jahangir, a trader at Gabtoli said.
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