[Bangla Daily Star] Pirates killed a fisherman and abducted at least 125 fishermen while looting 84 trawlers in Borguna and Bagerhat on Sunday.Pirates killed a fisherman and shot four others near Chalna Boya point of the Bay of Bengal in Borguna district on Sunday night.
They also looted four fishing trawlers and abducted 25 fishermen at around 11:00pm, reports a correspondent from Barisal.
The deceased was identified as Ripon Khan, 30, son of Rezwan Khan of Kalmegha village under Patharghata upazila of Borguna.
At least 26 other fishermen jumped into the river to save themselves from the pirates.
The nearby fishing trawlers rescued them from the sea. All of them hailing from Banshkhali of Chittagong returned to Patharghata at around 10:00am yesterday.
The injured were identified as Jagdish, Suvash, Abul and Kasem.
UNB from Bagerhat says, pirates looted valuables worth Tk 25 lakh from 80 trawlers and abducted over 100 fishermen demanding ransom of Tk 30 lakh in separate raids in the coastal areas of the district on Sunday night.
Fisherman Alauddin of Kochikhali said pirate number 30-40 belonging to infamous Zulfiqar Bahini in separate groups launched attack on the 80 trawlers while they were catching fish at Narkelbaria, Dublar Char and Meher Ali Char in coastal areas of the Bay of Bengal.
As the fishermen tried to resist the bandits they beat them up indiscriminately, leaving around 30 of them seriously injured, he added.
Later, the pirates looted nets and the fishes of the fishermen worth about Tk 25 lakh from the trawlers.
The gang also threatened to kill the abducted fishermen if their family members fail to pay the ransom money within next seven days. The victims hailed from Sharankhola, Kachua, Charduani areas of the district and Patharghata upazila of Barguna district.
Lt Commander Lokman Hakim of Mongla West Zone Coast Guard said drive was on to nab the pirates.
Sources said, pirates abducted more than 200 fishermen for ransom and looted valuables worth Tk 50 lakh from at least 150 trawlers in the last 10 days.
Another report says, Coast Guard members arrested three pirates from Karamjol area of Passur river in Mongla upazila Sunday midnight.
The arrestees were identified as Nurul Islam, 35, Sawpan Hawlader, 37, and Jahangir Farazi, 36, of signal tower area in the upazila.
In Satkhira, police arrested four pirates yesterday while they were collecting illegal tolls from the fishermen in the river Kabodak near Jelekhali point adjacent to the Sundarbans in Shyamnagar upazila, reports our correspondent.
The pirates are Abul Kalam, 35 son of Abdus Sabur and Mizan, 40, son of Abdul Khaleque Sheikh of village Koira and Rokon Sheikh, 25 son of Sheikh Abdul Jalil and Masum Billal, 23 son of Shahidullah of village Katakhali in Koira upazila under Khulna district.