Pirates loot six trawlers,abduct 26 fishermen

28 October 2009, 17:00 PM

Our Correspondent, Barisal

Pirates looted six fishing trawlers in the Bay and abducted 26 fishermen for ransom on Tuesday night, according to a report received here yesterday afternoon. Sixteen of the 26 abducted fishermen are Khaleq, Mostofa, Kabir, Lokman, Kamal, Shahid, Alamgir, Barek, Shamsu, Dulal, Khokan, Alkes, Rahim, Abdus Salam, Lokman Hossain and Alamgir. Names of the rest 10 could not be known as of 6:30pm yesterday. They all hail from Patharghat upazila of Barguna district. Confirming the incident, Patharghata coastguard unit commander MA Jahid told The Daily Star over cellphone that they were trying to rescue the fishermen and track down the pirates. Fisherman Forkan, 25, who managed to flee with bullet injury, reached Patharghata yesterday and was later admitted to Upazila Health Complex. He told newsmen that a gang of pirates swooped on them while they were fishing in Laldiar Char area of the Sundarbans on Tuesday night. Barguna Trawler Sramik Union President Abdul Mannan said the pirates demanded Tk 5.2 lakh for release of the fishermen. The gang looted fish, nets and other valuables from six trawlers, said Golam Mostafa Chowdhury, president of Barguna Trawler Owners' Association.