Pirates loot six trawlers, abduct 28 fishermen

14 November 2009, 17:00 PM

Unb, Bagerhat

Pirates looted six fishing trawlers in the Bay and abducted 28 fishermen for ransom early yesterday. Fishermen who returned from the Bay at noon said, a group of pirates numbering 15/16, swooped on six trawlers while they were fishing in Durbalarchar and Narikelbaria areas of the Bay at about 2:00am. The gang looted fish, nets and other valuables worth about Tk 10 lakh from the trawlers. As the fishermen tried to resist the band, they beat up five of the fishermen mercilessly, leaving them seriously injured. “The band also abducted 28 fishermen from the six trawlers at gunpoint for ransom,” said the returnees. The pirates threatened to kill the abducted fishermen if not paid off Tk 5 lakh in five days for their release, they said. Contacted, Lt Lokman Hakim, operations officer of Coastguard Mongla West Zone, said, they were looking into the incident. “Coastguard members continued their patrol in the costal areas to track down the pirates,” he said.