Man killed, 3 missing as robbers' trawler hits passenger boat

A man drowned while three others went missing as a trawler carrying a gang of robbers hit another trawler with 30 passengers on board in Meghna River on Tuesday night.
The body of the deceased was recovered from the river near Chhatiantola village on Wednesday morning while the three others remained untraced till filing of this report yesterday noon.
The dead was identified as Pabitra Chandra Barman, 20, of Chhatiantola village. The missing passengers are Jamuna Rani Barman, 7, Lucky Rani Barman, 11, and Suman Chandra Shil, 25, of the village.
Locals said that the 30 passengers, all from Chhatiantola, a predominantly Hindu area, were returning home after visiting several Durga Puja mandops in Bhairab town by a trawler at about 10:00 pm.
Suddenly a trawler, carrying armed robbers, appeared in the mid-river at Kalipur Kodalkati and chased the passenger river craft.
As the passenger trawler tried to change its course in a bid to escape attack, the trawler of the robbers dashed against it, causing the passenger craft to capsize.
Hearing cry for help, several boats that were passing by, rushed to the spot and the robbers fled the scene sensing danger.
All but four of the passengers were either rescued by the boats or they swam ashore. After 12 hours of search locals recovered Pabitra Chandra's body from the river at 11 am yesterday.