68 fishermen jailed in three districts
Mobile courts in separate drives yesterday sentenced 68 fishermen to different terms of imprisonment and seized huge quantity of fishing nets in Barishal, Faridpur and Manikganj for defying a 22-day ban on netting hilsa.
Our Barishal correspondent reported that at least 32 fishermen were jailed by three separate mobile courts in Sadar upazila on charge of defying the ongoing ban on hilsa fishing.
Fisheries department in cooperation with district administration, coastguards and river police conducted separate drives in the Kalabador, Meghna and Gojara river yesterday noon and detained 32 fishermen from there.
They also seized about two lakh metres of fishing nets worth Tk 40 lakh and 54 kg of hilsa from their possession.
Of the arrestees, twenty people were sentenced to one year imprisonment while 12 others to three months imprisonment, District Fisheries Officer (DFO) Bimol Chandra Das said.
Away in Faridpur, mobile courts in separate drives detained 21 fishermen and sentenced them to one year imprisonment in Sadarpur upazila, reports our correspondent.
A court led by Sadarpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Purobi Golder detained 13 fishermen and sentenced them to one year imprisonment.
Meanwhile, another court led by Executive Magistrates Sajal Chandra Shil jailed eight fishermen under the Protection and Conservation of Fish Act, 1950.
The two courts also sized 40,000 meters of fishing nets and two maunds of hilsa from different areas along the Padma and Arial Kha river. The seized fishes were later distributed among different orphanages.
Our Manikganj correspondent adds: A mobile court sentenced 15 fishermen to one year imprisonment for netting hilsha in the Jamuna river near Alokdia Char area under Shivalaya upazila for defying the government ban.
During the drive the court led by Shivalaya Upazila Nirbahi Officer AFM Firoz Mahmud seized six trawlers, one lakh metres of current nets and 20 kilograms of hilsa.
The seized nets were later burnt in presence of the officials.
Comments