“Mantripara”--the capital’s cloistered neighborhood of ministers–is usually a study in formality.

Bureaucrats in dark suits shuffle between files and meetings, advisors weigh legal fine print, security guards stand with straight shoulders and protocol dictates every detail of life.

But last December, a bizarre episode shattered that monotony, leaving the enclave still buzzing with gossip months later.

The scandal? Two missing goats.

Not a stolen car, not a misplaced phone–two live goats that vanished from the bungalow of Asif Nazrul, adviser for Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs.

The culprits, according to political whispers, were none other than Nasiruddin Patwari, one of the main leaders of the National Citizen Party (NCP), and his comrade Rifat Rashid, a prominent figure in the Anti-Discrimination Movement.

When Bangla Outlook reached him, Rifat didn’t bother with denial. “Yes,” he admitted, almost boastfully, “we did the work ourselves.”

Witnesses recall that a group of student leaders had gathered that night in heated political discussion. At some point, levity took over. “Bro, let’s play a little prank!” someone quipped.

What followed was part farce, part dark satire. Scaling the wall, Nasir and Rifat dragged the goats out to a waiting “receiving team.”

Then the night veered into black comedy. One goat was slaughtered. In the absence of a proper knife, the group improvised with a meat cleaver before finally calling in a butcher from Kawran Bazar to officiate. The night ended in revelry–feast and laughter.

The second goat lived. But it returned as a political prop. Around its neck hung a placard that read: “We want [President] Chappu’s resignation.”

The law adviser’s fury only deepened when the bungalow’s CCTV footage was reviewed. What it revealed was less a covert operation than a performance.

There stood Nasir and Rifat, squarely in front of the lens, pulling faces and mugging as if they were recording their own prank video.

The fallout was immediate. Outraged, the adviser lodged a formal complaint with the advisory council. In a clumsy attempt at damage control, the younger colleague and fellow comrades of Nasir and Rifat in ousting Hasina, Asif Mahmud, rushed to purchase two replacement goats–an act that only compounded the embarrassment.

The adviser rejected the gesture outright.

Repeated calls and messages from Bangla Outlook to Nasiruddin Patwari went unanswered. His party, the National Citizen Party, offered little clarity. “I am in contact with Patwari,” its spokesperson, Saleh Uddin Sifat, told Bangla Outlook, declining further comment.

Even the police, predictably, shrugged off responsibility. “I haven’t received any such goat case since I took charge,” said Golam Faruk, the officer-in-charge of Ramna Police Station.

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