A mobile court has jailed 41 fishermen for catching hilsa from the Padma and Arial Khan rivers in Sadarpur upazila of Faridpur amid the ongoing temporary ban on catching, selling and carrying of the fish.

Of the fishermen, 40 were awarded 10-day jail each while another was sentenced to one-year jail, said Sajal Chandra Shil, assistant commissioner (land) of Sadarpur upazila.

The mobile court team detained the 41 fishermen after launching drives in the two rivers yesterday and early today as they were catching hilsa defying the ban, said AC (land) and executive magistrate Sajal Chandra Shil, who led the drive.

During the drives, nearly 1.10 lakh metres of nets were seized from the spot and those were burnt at Chandrapar trawler ghat, said the executive magistrate.

The convicted fishermen hail from Charnasirpur and Diara Narkelbaria of the same upazila, our Faridpur correspondent reports quoting Sajal Chandra Shil.

The government has imposed a 22-day ban on catching, selling, hoarding and transporting of hilsa from October 14 to protect safe spawning of the fish during its peak breeding period.