Families seek govt steps for release

Families of seven Bangladeshi sailors held hostage for nearly two years by Somali pirates formed a human chain before Chittagong Press Club yesterday demanding immediate government measures for their release.
Somali pirates seized the Malaysian flag carrier MV AL-VADO from the Indian Ocean on November 26, 2010 and held hostage its crew, including the seven Bangladeshis, seven Pakistanis, six Sri Lankans and two Indians.
The family members said the pirates had let the crew call the families to convey their demand of US $7 lakh as ransom, stating that otherwise they would be killed.
The crew had informed that they were tied up most of the time, inhumanly tortured both physically and mentally and served inadequate amounts of substandard food and water.
The family members added that there was no response from the Bangladesh government although the Pakistan government secured the release of their nationals on August 1 this year.
They stressed that the government must act fast as the pirates had recently killed one of the Indian nationals, as stated by one captive, Md Aminul Islam, of Comilla.
Aminul's father Nurul Islam said he, on behalf of the others affected, sent letters seeking help from the Prime Minister's Office, foreign and shipping ministry and the office of the shipping department director general in September last year.
“We asked the government to pay the ransom from the prime minister's relief fund and the sailor's welfare fund but no step was taken,” he said.
The remaining Bangladeshi captives are Golam Mostafa, Habibur Rahman, Nural Haq and Abul Kashem of Stakhira and Limon Sarker and Jakir Hossain of Chandpur.