HELEMUL ALAM and SHAHEEN MOLLAH

It was around 1:00pm yesterday. By then, most sacrificial animals across Dhaka had already been sacrificed, but Habibur Rahman was still sitting at the Kachukhet cattle market with his two remaining bulls, hoping to reduce his mounting losses.

Around 1:30pm, one of the bulls was finally sold for Tk 80,000 to Majidul Islam.

Majidul, who lives in the Cantonment area, said the trader had demanded Tk 100,000 the previous night, but he refused to offer more than Tk 80,000. Before leaving, the trader gave him his phone number and asked him to return if he could not find another suitable cow.

Yesterday, the trader contacted him and agreed to sell the animal for Tk 80,000 after failing to find another buyer.

Habibur, a roadside fruit seller, said he had brought nine cattle from Kishoreganj after borrowing nearly Tk 400,000.

He said two cattle generated only small profits, while he suffered losses ranging from Tk 25,000 to Tk 40,000 on several others. One cow sold for Tk 80,000 had originally cost Tk 123,000. Including transportation, labour and feed costs, the total expense rose to around Tk 133,000.

“I lost more than Tk 50,000 on this cow alone,” he said.

Habibur’s experience was not isolated. Many sacrificial animals remained unsold this year due to weak demand and an oversupply of cattle across markets in the capital.

At Kachukhet cattle market yesterday morning, many trucks were seen leaving with unsold cattle as traders

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