2 abducted cargo ship crew rescued in Laxmipur

Two crew of a cargo ship, abducted by a gang of robbers in the Meghna River near Tankir Bazar in Ramgati upazila of Laxmipur district on Thursday night, were rescued by law enforcers from Barokheri area in upazila early yesterday.

The rescued sailors are Kamrul Islam, master of cargo ship 'Bhagyakul', and son of late Siraj Talukder of Athargachhia in Barguna district, and employee Jasim Uddin, son of Shaheed Molla of Noapara village in Lohagara upazila of Narail district.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) M Iqbal Hossain of Ramgati Police Station said a gang of robbers swooped on the coal-laden cargo ship when it reached near Tankir Bazar area in the river on its way to Chittagong from Dhaka at around 11:00pm and kidnapped Kamrul and Jasim.

Police quoted victims' families as saying that the gang later demanded Tk five lakh as ransom for their release.

OC Iqbal and DB official Rezaul Karim said police and detectives, acting on a tip-off, raided the area at around 1:00am and rescued Karul and Jasim.

Sensing the presence of the law enforcers, the robbers fled the area, they said, adding that law enforcers are trying to arrest the gang members.