22 fishermen, crew members of 3 trawlers arrested in West Bengal

Eighteen more fishermen and crew members went into hiding with the aid of local fishermen to escape arrest after the trawlers -- FB Manir, Pinki and Rizia -- anchored at a fishing port in the Indian state of West Bengal on September 10, sources said.

The trawlers sailed from Patharghata coast of Barguna district on September 8 to catch fish in the deep sea, said the owners of the trawlers.

The trawlers were caught in the storm on the night of September 9 and as the visibility was very low, the fishermen took shelter at Kakdwip fishing port, said Golam Mustafa Chowdhury, president of the Barguna District Trawler Owners' Association, quoting Gopal Chandra Saha, a fish importer in West Bengal.

Of the arrested, 12 fishermen were sent to jail and the others were undergoing treatment at a local hospital under police custody.

Mustafa said they were maintaining contact with the Indian fish traders and the Bangladesh High Commission office in Kolkata to get the trawlers back and free the fishermen as early as possible.