Fear was what possessed the sailors over the 100 days in captivity. They had been briefed on a situation like ship hijacking. But nothing worked as the pirates boarded their ship and asked them to surrender. Three of the sailors even fainted. “Are they going to shoot me now? Would they let me talk with my daughter, would they?” M Idris, a deck fitter, was uttering to himself, lying on the floor of the ship's Bridge along with several others following the pirates' instruction.

Former chief of the Indian army's eastern command Lt Gen (retd) JFR Jacob yesterday said it was the freedom fighters’ gallantry that liberated Bangladesh from Pakistan occupation.