Indigenous species in high demand

Sales at the capital's makeshift and permanent cattle markets picked up Friday with the indigenous species being the most-sought-after sacrificial animals, buyers and sellers said.
Although traders brought the animals from various corners of the country and neighbouring India into the city's 19 markets few days earlier, a good number of buyers turned up on the day adding an impetus to sales.
The rush of buyers also brought some sort of hope for many of the traders about recouping the losses they incurred the previous Eid-ul-Azha as most of their animals remained unsold during the last several days in the absence of the expected number of customers.
Hundreds of buyers were seen thronging the city cattle markets in the late afternoon to buy their desired ones within their budget with three days still left to go before celebrating one of the largest religious festivals for Muslims.  
During visits to several cattle markets such as Kamalapur, Banani, Agargaon, Armanitola and Hazaribagh Beribadh buyers and sellers were found bargaining over prices of sacrificial animals.
Akher Ali Mollah, an iron rod and cement merchant in the capital's Mayakanon area who bought an ox of the local species at Tk 64,000 from the Armanitola Cattle Market, said the traders were charging much higher prices this time.
"I got some sort of relief after managing to buy an ox in a market of high price after a long bargain. Thanks to the Almighty Allah," he said.
Buyers mostly look for oxen of indigenous species, which seem less fattened, as they appear less interested in fat sacrificial animals in the wake of the steroid worry.
Abul Kalam Skeikh, a doctor who purchased a large-sized ox of local species at Tk 90,000 from the Kamalapur Cattle Market, said he had chosen the local one to avoid the risk of consuming meat of an artificially fattened cow.
Cattle trader Mohammad Haroon of Tangail district said he had brought 23 cattleheads Sunday last to the Kamalapur Cattle Market.
 "But I could not sell a single one over the days for not having a price that ensures return of my investment. We hope the luck will smile on us tomorrow (Saturday)," he said.
Like him, many of the traders also adopted a go-slow policy for not getting prices up to their expectation.
Nabil, a hasil counterman at the cattle market, said the counter managed to collect hasil from more than 50 buyers until 4:45 pm.
 "The number will hopefully increase as time progresses, as a large number of customers will come in the evening as witnessed in the past," he said, adding that indigenous species topped the sale chart.
Trading has been going on amid tight security arrangements made by the law enforcement agencies to avert any unexpected incidents like mugging, doping and transactions with forged currency notes.
Presence of an additional number of law enforcers in and around the cattle markets and several counterfeit currency-note detection machines were also found operating in those markets.
Talking to the FE, Officer-in-Charge of Motijheel Police Station Forman Ali said several teams of plainclothe policemen were deployed inside the market to catch criminals.
 "The whole market was also being monitored through binoculars from the watch tower installed inside the market," he added.
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