In the face of protests over misbehaviour with an elderly farmer and two journalists in Manikganj, the government has transferred two agriculture officers to different districts following preliminary investigation.
Assistant Agriculture Officer Salahuddin Sujon has been transferred from Manikganj to Dinajpur while his colleague, Upazila Agriculture Officer Razia Tarafdar, has been transferred to Saltha of Faridpur, said District Agriculture Extension Department Deputy Director Rabiah Noor Ahmed.
In the order, Salahuddin was asked to hand over the charge on Wednesday. Another order says Razia Tarafder has to join her new station on April 16.
Earlier, the authorities formed a two-member probe committee.
The matter came to light after a video went viral on social media with the netizens condemning the misbehaviour of the public servants and their unwillingness to assist the farmer named Fazlul Rahman.
The farmer went to the agriculture office last Tuesday with some paddy plants and sought solutions as his paddy field was facing a pest attack. He requested Salahuddin to take a photo and visit the field and sought the phone number of a senior official to talk about it.
At that time, Salahuddin bullied him, asking if he was the president of the country. He ordered the old man to go out and do whatever he could against him.
Later, two local journalists accompanied the farmer and went to the Upazila agriculture office, and sought an explanation from the officer on duty, Razia Tarafder. At that time, one of the journalists recorded the conversation on his phone.
She again misbehaved with the farmer in front of the journalists. When the duo protested, she behaved rudely with them too.