33 fishermen abducted from Sundarbans in two days

Seven of the 33 fishermen, abducted from the Sundarbans on Friday and Saturday, were rescued after a gunfight between law enforcers and robbers yesterday.
However, there was no report of casualty in the gunfight, which lasted one and a half hours.
M Saidur Rahman, commander of Coastguards (Mongla West Zone), told UNB that a joint team of Rab and coastguards raided different points of the Sundarbans yesterday to rescue kidnapped fishermen.
Sensing the presence of Rab and coastguard members at Chandershar at noon, the robbers opened fire on them, prompting the law enforcers to retaliate. At one stage, the robbers fled the scene.
Later, the elite force and coastguards rescued the fishermen from the den of infamous 'Jihad Bahini'. They also detected five dens of the gang in the mangrove forest and destroyed them.
The rescued fishermen, whose names could not be known, hail from different areas of Bagerhat and Barguna.
On Friday, Shohag 'Bahini' of the Sundarbans picked up eight fishermen at gunpoint from Harmal Canal in the eastern part of the mangrove forest under Sharankhola upazila of Bagerhat district, reports our staff correspondent.
The gang looted valuables, including fishing nets, fish and crabs worth about Tk 50,000, from the fishermen and demanded a ransom of Tk 50,000 for each of the fishermen, he added.
The deputy ranger further said the kidnappers threatened to kill all the eight fishermen in case of their failure to pay ransom by Wednesday.
On Saturday, robbers belonging to infamous 'Jihad Bahini' kidnapped 25 fishermen for ransom from Gangrain area near the Bay of Bengal.
They also took away fishing nets, fish and money from fishermen of 50 trawlers during the attack.
Mihir Kumar, divisional forest officer (DFO east) of the Sundarban Forest Division, said 'Jihad Bahini' have demanded a ransom of Tk one lakh for each of the 25 fishermen who all hail from Rayenda and Mohipur under Sharankhola upazila of Bagerhat district.
Contacted, Md Hasanuzzaman, Operation Officer of Coastgaurds Mongla West Zone, said drives to rescue the kidnapped fisherman and arrest the members of the two gangs are going on.
Meanwhile, a forest officer was injured in an attack by a gang of robbers in Kalirchar area of the Sundarbans on Saturday night.
The injured officer, Abdur Rashid of Dobeki forest outpost, was admitted to Khulna 250-bed hospital in a critical condition.
Forest department sources said Abdur Rashid and two forest guards--BM Zaman and Md Asadwere patrolling the forest area in an engine boat at around 7:30 pm.
As they reached Kalirchar area at around 8:00pm, the robbers attacked the boat. Sensing the presence of the robbers, BM Zaman and Md Asad left the scene, leaving Abdur Rashid there.
The pirates dragged Rashid into the forest, hit him with sharp weapons and left the scene.
Being informed, forest officers and guards of Kadamtala and Dobeki forest stations rushed to Klairchar area and rescued Rashid in a critical condition.