Reptiles Farm in Mymensingh now open for visitors
Reptiles Farm Ltd, located in Bhaluka, Mymensingh, which was abandoned and unmanaged due to the absence of owners after various legal actions were initiated in connection with corruption, is now open for visitors.
A six-member Board of Directors will carry out the activities of the farm as per a High Court directive, reads a media release.
In 2012, Prashanta Kumar Halder alias PK Halder – a fugitive banker and businessman accused in around three dozen cases of financial crimes such as money laundering –purchased the farm. However, Halder's ownership was revoked in 2020 when evidence of his involvement in financial misconduct emerged.
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In response to a petition filed by International Leasing & Financial Service Ltd, a nonbank lending company from which Halder borrowed Tk100 crore, the High Court established a six-person committee in 2022 to manage the farm.
Enam Hoque, an internationally-recognised crocodile expert, has been made the committee's managing director.
The other five members are – Dr Naeem Ahmed, chairman; and Dr Sheikh Muhammad Abdur Rashid, Rizaul Shikder, Dr Md Rafiqul Alam, and Fakhruddin Ahmed, directors.
The court-appointed board of directors took over the farm on 12 February, 2022, when the farm had some 1,730 crocodiles, including a very ill one. On taking charge it was found that crocodiles were dying regularly due to prolonged neglect, carelessness and lack of food.
After the last breeding season, there are now 2,526 crocodiles with new hatchlings.
In this situation an action plan is adopted to sustain the farm and make it profitable and to implement this plan, a Tk3.30 crore loan had been sanctioned.
The board, planning to generate profits from this farm, has decided to open the farm for tourism. The income earned by the farm covers food for crocodiles, the payment of salaries and allowances to employees and incidental expenses, as well as repay ILFSL's loan.
