Fishermen demand security, compensation

This April 2 photo shows a Navy ship pulling up bodies of two fishermen from the Bay at Kutubdia killed by robbers.

Fishermen on Thursday demanded the government to compensate the families of their colleagues killedby the robbers in Bay of Bengal last week.

Bangladesh Khudra Matshajibi Samity, a platform of fishermen, also demanded immediate arrest of the 'killer robbers' and adequate security for the fishermen at risky channels of the Bay.

"If their demands are not met by April, the fishermen will form a human chain in the capital on May 10," said Anwar Hossain Shikder, general secretary of the BKMS.

Shikder was addressing a press conference at BKMS central office on Topkhana Road in the capital.

The organisation will also submit memorandums to all district commissioners' offices across the country on May 15, he said.

Thirty-six fishermen went missing on March 26 when a gang of 20 to 25 armed robbers swooped on their trawlers on the mouth of Jahajfari while they were returning home after catching fish.

Of them, the bodies of 24 missing fishermen were found from the Bay of Bengal until today (April 4).