Rats hoping to escape the sultry heat and snatch lawmakers' leftovers have invaded the imposing Parliament complex, damaging files and cutting telephone lines, the daily star newspaper reported today. Rats hoping to escape the sultry heat and snatch lawmakers' leftovers have invaded the imposing Parliament complex, damaging files and cutting telephone lines, the daily star newspaper reported today.

The deputy opposition leader, Abdul Hamid, is one of many lawmakers who has set up traps in his air-conditioned office, so far netting four rats.


Rodent extermination is a brisk business in Bangladesh, where rats eat away an estimated 700,000 tons of crop a year which could feed 3.5 million people.
The rice-producing country awards farmers with five kgs of wheat for every rat they kill and hands out annual prizes for the highest number of rat tails submitted as evidence of rodent eradication.

Bureau Report