Coastguards rescue 13 abducted fishermen

Thirteen fishermen, abducted from Kalamer Char (landmass emerged from the Meghna) area and Sunadarbans four days ago, were rescued yesterday and the day before.
Our Bhola correspondent reported that a gang of robbers kidnapped 11 fishermen from Kalamer Char and took away two trawlers and fishing nets from there four days ago.
Being informed by some other fishermen, coastguards led by station commander of coastguard south zone Lieutenant Mahfuzul Hasan raided the char areas on Friday and rescued the fishermen, said Operation Officer Lieutenant Rakibul Hasan.
The law enforcers also recovered the looted trawlers and fishing nets from there, the operation officer added.
The rescued fishermen are Md Yusuf, 20, Nure Alam, 21, Sabuj, 19, Md Hashem, 45, Dulal, 45, Amir, 50, Rashid, 50, Amirul, 24, Khalil, 24, Babul, 35 and Kashem, 22.
Seven of them are from Laxmipur district, three from Bhola district and one is from Chandpur district. They later went to their respective villages.
In Satkhira, the law enforcers rescued two kidnapped fishermen and recovered five firearms after an hour-long gunfight with forest robbers at Kolagachia under Sundarbans west zone in Shyamnagar upazila yesterday.
The rescued fishermen were Sagir Hossain, 45, of Koira upazila of Khulna and Abul Kalam,32, of Shyamnagar upazila.
Coastguard Mongla west zone operation division staff officer Lt commander Mufti Mahmud Khan said when a coastguard team chased three trawlers of  infamous 'Jahangir Bahini', they opened fire, prompting the law enforcers to retaliate.
At one stage, the robbers fled the scene along with two trawlers.
Coastguard members rescued the two fishermen from a trawler abandoned by the robbers. Five firearms, sharp weapons and five bullets were also recovered.
The members of 'Jahangir Bahini' kidnapped the two fishermen from the Sundarbans four days ago and demanded Tk 50,000 as ransom for each.