Pirates introduce 'tokens' each for Tk 10,000 for 'safe' fishing
Rampant looting, abduction for ransom and introduction of so-called 'token system' by pirate gangs has become a threat to fishermen in the Bay of Bengal during the peak hilsa season.
After committing a few large-scale piracy recently, criminals are forcing trawler owners to buy 'token' or 'card' for Tk 10,000 for each trawler as condition for 'safe fishing' in the deep sea during the hilsa catching season till November, said several fishermen and trawler owners.
A fisherman showed this correspondent a 'card' that he collected from a pirate gang after meeting their demand. 'Bhai Bhai Joutho Fish' is written on the 'card' that also contains pictures a buffalo and a rose. Besides, there is '786' printed on top of the card.
In last several days, pirates looted nets, hilsa, fuel and cash worth about Tk two crore from around 40 trawlers in the bay and abducted 50 fishermen. Many of them later returned to Kuakata and Pathorghata areas after buying freedom for good amounts.
On August 24, a pirates' gang attacked five trawlers and abducted 10 fishermen about 80 kilometres to the south of Kuakata. The gang also looted hilsa, fuel and cash worth over Tk five lakh from the trawlers, Abdul Latif, one of the 12 fisherman who returned to Mohipur area the next morning told local journalists and trawler owners.
On August 22, an armed gang attacked at least 25 trawlers and abducted 26 fishermen about 120 kilometres to the south of Pathorghata upazila in Barguna district. During the attack pirates killed one fisherman and shot 16 more. Five of the bullet-hit fishermen were able to reach Pathorghata by a trawler while 11 others are still missing. Pirates looted hilsa fishes, fuel and cash. Later a fishing trawler rescued 26 fishermen who were floating on the Bay.
Early on August 20, another gang kidnapped 15 people from 10 fishing trawlers about 50 kilometres to the south-east of Pathorghata. Pirates brought them to the Sundarbans and later released for Tk 5,000 each as ransom, said fishermen who returned to Pathorghata from Sundarbans two days after their abduction.
The pirates often keep abducted fishermen at their camps in the Sundarbans and release them for ransom, said a fisherman.
Following the incidents, many panicked fishermen are returning with trawlers to Pathorghata from deep sea, said Golam Mostafa Chowdhury, president of Barguna Fishing Trawler Owners Association.
Quite a few trawler owners have collected 'token' from the pirate gangs to ensure safety for their men and goods, sources said.
Fishermen feel insecure to go to the Bay as Julfiqar Bahini and Raju Bahini, two pirate gangs of the Sundarbans, are active in the bay in the running hilsa season, said Fazlu Gazi, president of trawler owners association in Mohipur.
Two pirates were killed in a gunfight with the joint forces of coastguard, Rapid Action Battalion and police on July 8 this year in Baleshwar River in Pathorghata upazila of Barguna district.
"Despite shortage of speedy vessels, we are making preparations to conduct drives against pirates in the bay very soon," a coastguard official in Pathorghata told this correspondent over cell phone.
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