Trawlers Looted in Bay

Pirates abduct 12 fishermen, demand Tk 6 lakh ransom

13 September 2009, 17:00 PM

Our Correspondent, Barisal

Pirates looted 12 fishing trawlers in the Bay and abducted 12 fishermen for ransom on Saturday night, according to a report received here yesterday afternoon. The seven of the 12 fishermen are Reaz Uddin, 28, Habib, 35, Golam Mostafa, 30, Shamsu, 50, Abdus Salam, 31, Hanif, 26, and Khalil Khan,23. Names of the rest five could not be known as of 6:30pm yesterday. They all belong to different villages under Patharghat upazila of Barguna district. Confirming the incident, Mizanur Rahaman, commander of Pathorghata Coastguard unit told The Daily Star over cellphone that they were trying to rescue the fishermen and track down the pirates. Fisherman Abul Kalam, who escaped attack and reached Patharghata yesterday, told The Daily Star that a gang of pirates swooped on them while they were fishing in Narikelbaria area of the Sundarbans on Saturday night. Trawler Labour Union President Abdul Mannan said the pirates abducted 12 fishermen and demanded Tk 6 lakh for release of the fishermen. The gang looted fish, nets, engine and other valuables from 12 trawlers, said Golam Mostafa Chowdhury, president of the district Trawler Owners' Association.