Cattle sale drops for hartal in city

---

Jubair Hasan
Sale of sacrificial animals in the city's makeshift markets dropped by around 50 per cent Sunday during the dawn-to-dusk hartal hours as the frustrated cattle traders received very few buyers.
The traders said the BNP-enforced strike also forced many of them to sell their animals at lower prices.
"We did not get normal presence of buyers today (Sunday) despite lower prices of animals," Reza, a trader at Gabtoli cattle market, said adding that he sold a cow at noon for Tk 50,000, less by Tk 8,000 as he sold the same size of another cow for Tk 58,000 the day before.
"The hartal (strike) came at a time when we're planning to recover the loss caused by fear of Anthrax infection," a cattle trader Abdul Aziz, who came from Jhenaidah district with 10 big size cows said.
"Sale of such animals have dropped to around 50 per cent due to the strike," Hasil (vat) collector at Agargaon cattle market Sirajul Islam said adding that only eight cattle were sold at the haat (market) till 2:00pm against 15 traded last day.
Many of the traders alleged that arrival of the animal-laden trucks also dropped significantly as a number of such vehicles were stranded at various points across the country due to the shutdown.
Many of the cattle traders were seen desperately moving from one market to another for better sale of their animals.
Aminul Islam, an employee of a buying house, said the strike created panic among the city dwellers leading to the poor sale. He came to the market in the afternoon and expressed his satisfaction after purchasing a medium size cow at Tk 32,000.