Some leaders of the present committee of Mahanagar Hans-Murgi Bazarjatkaran Samabay Samity Ltd (Metropolitan Poultry Product Marketing Cooperative Association) have been involved in such practice for the last eight months, said M Shamsuddin, former vice-president of the association, at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters' Unity (DRU) auditorium.

"The Co-operative Association supplies around 50,000 chickens daily. Of them, 200 to 300 chickens die due to various reasons, including extreme heat. But the current committee sells these dead chickens to hotels and restaurants at a cheaper price," he said.

"We, the former committee of the Association, protested such act several times, but to no avail. The current committee also unleashed a criminal gang on us when we tried to protest their activities," said M Nurul Amin, founder-general secretary of the association.

Fazlul Haq Mida, former president of the association, said they have already informed the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Dhaka District Co-operative Association and Tejgaon Police Station of the incident.

Abdul Qaiyum, a member of the current executive committee, who was present at the press conference, also said that some leaders of the current committee are involved in selling dead chickens.

When contacted, Association President Mostafa Babul dismissed the allegations as baseless.