Pirates abduct 12 fishermen in Sundarbans for ransom

The pirates set a 7-day deadline for the payment and threatened to kill them for non-compliance.

Quoting local people police said, about 20 fishermen went for fishing in the Sundarbans on Tuesday after taking permission from the forest department.

When the fishermen were asleep on their boats at night, pirates attacked and abducted 12 of them, demanding a ransom of Tk one lakh.

The pirates kept the fishermen hostage in the deep forest, according to fishermen Saheb Ali and Abdus Samad of Patakhali village in Shyamnagr upazila, who managed to escape.

On contact, Afsar Gazi, father of victim Habibur Rahman and Fatik Sadar, father of another victim Abu Hossain of Sora village in the same upazila said their sons along with others went to the Sundarbans for fishing. Pirates abducted them for ransom, they said.

Afsar Gazi filed a general diary GD with Kalaroa thana.

Sub Inspector Swapan of Shyamnagar thana confirmed the incident.

Piracy and abduction int he Sundbrans increased in recent years. In last six months, at least five such incidents took place in which over 50 fishermen were abducted for ransom.

The slide in law and order in the mangrove forest decreased fishing and honey collection in the area.