, Jan. 16 -- Miscreants cut down 200 aubergine plants and garlic crops on 10 percent of a farmer's land in Char Etmamapur village, Jaduboyra Union, Kushtia. They also reportedly stole a submersible pump worth around Tk 18,000. The incident occurred Thursday night.

The affected farmer, Abdul Latif Laifa Biswas (61), a former vice president of the Union Awami League, discovered the damage on Friday morning. His farmland along the banks of the Gorai River is cultivated with banana, eggplant, onion, garlic, and other crops.

On inspection, hundreds of eggplant plants were found cut and shredded, while garlic seedlings on a neighboring plot were also destroyed. The irrigation pump was missing, and electrical wires were damaged. Local farmers ...