Piracy alarming in Bay, Sundarbans

Fifteen fishing trawlers were looted by pirates in the areas in four days till Tuesday, in which 27 fishermen were injured and eleven others were thrown into the sea.

All but two of the fishermen were rescued by other fishermen. The two sill missing are Shahidul, 30, and Jamal, 35, according to survivors who reached Patharghata Bandar in Barguna Monday night.

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The pirates looted fishes, nets and other equipment, fuel and about Tk 20 lakh from the 15 trawlers. These include FB Tin Bhai, FB Jasim, FB Erfan, FB Mamun, FB Khalil, FB Barkat, FB Bismillah, FB Ramzan, FB Sekander, FB Mustafa and FB Nijami.

The piracies too place Fairway Buoya, Char Adda, Kaligahata Char, Alipur, Mohi-pur, Patharghata, Golachipa, Bishkhali, Baleswar, Katka, Chandreshwar and Kachikhali areas in the Bay and in the Sunderbans coast, they said.

On Tuesday, four trawlers were looted in Fairway Buoua, Char Adda, and Kaligahata Char.

The survivors said hardly a day passes without piracy in the areas. The incidents increased in recent days because there is no patrol by the Coast Guard in the areas.

Armed pirates move on water posing as fishermen. In opportune moments, they attack fishermen's trawlers, loot those and again move on water like fishermen. So it is difficult to be aware of pirates, they said.

They said, launch of government's anti-crime drive and deployment of RAB up to upazila level in Barisal, Patuakhali, Barguna, Jhalakati, Pirojpur and Bhola forced criminals and dacoits to flee to the Sunderbans and its adjoining areas and shoals along the coasts and river estuaries. They are committing robberies in the areas.

They are also collecting huge amounts of toll from fishermen. This vary from Tk 20,000 to Tk 25,000 per trawler for the current fishing season, the fishermen said.

They said filing case with police brings no result. So they do not file case.

When contacted over cell phone, the Officer-in-Charge of Kalapara thana said they have nothing to do on the water as they have no vessel to move.