11 abducted fishermen yet to be rescued

Although 13 days have already elapsed, 11 fishermen who were abducted for ransom by forest robbers from the Bay of Bengal near Sharankhola upazila of the district are yet to be rescued.
Family members of the abducted fishermen are now passing their days amid fear and anxiety.
They are now begging the mohajan (money lenders) to arrange the ransom money demanded by the robbers to set free the abductees.
M Abul Hossain, president of Sharankhola Upazila Matsyajibi Samity, said they knew nothing about the whereabouts of the 11 fishermen kidnapped by the forest robbers belonging to the notorious gangs 'Shirsha Bahini' and 'Jahangir Bahini'.
Anxious families of the victims gather at the Samity (association) office every day to know whether they could be traced out, he said, adding that they could not gather any information about the hapless fishermen despite making attempts time and again.
Abul Hossain informed that the robbers demanded Tk five lakh as ransom for the release of each of the 11 fishermen.
In the morning of August 15, the robbers swooped on 500 fishermen while fishing onboard trawlers in the Bay of Bengal near Sharankhola and looted fish worth Tk one crore, fishing nets and other valuables from their possession.
While leaving, the gang abducted 50 fishermen, who hail from different areas of Bagerhat, Pirojpur, Barguna and Bhola, along with four trawlers.
Later, the robbers threatened to kill the kidnapped fishermen unless they were freed within one week through payment of ransom.
Meanwhile, members of Coastguard (west zone) continued drive to rescue the fishermen.
During a drive on August 23 they rescued 13 of the abducted fishermen from the den of notorious 'Shirsha Bahini' in the Sundarbans.
On August 17, four more abducted fishermen were rescued from the Sundarbans under Koira upazila by the coastguard following a gunfight with 'Shirsha Bahini' members.
Sources said, a number of kidnapped fishermen have already bought freedom while the 11 from Sharankhola remained untraced till now.