Fishermen besiege navy patrol team
Hilsa fishing on defying ban
Fishermen continue to catch hilsa in Tetulia River in Patuakhali defying a ban; above, coastguards seize a trawler with four tonnes of mother hilsa on the Dhaleswari River while the boat was transporting the fish to the capital from Kaliganj area of Barisal yesterday.Photo: STAR
A navy patrol team fired 10 blank shots yesterday noon as over 500 fishermen in 20 trawlers besieged their trawler on the Tentulia River. SA Hasan, leader of the 6-member navy team said, they were patrolling the Tentulia River in Baufal upazila yesterday noon. When they reached near Char Wadel, over 500 fishermen in 20 trawlers besieged their trawler on the river. The fishermen started to throw brickbats on the navy trawler. At this, the navy team fired 10 rounds of blank shots to disperse the fishermen. We were compelled to open fire, Hasan told this correspondent over cell phone. Earlier on Monday, the navy team seized nets worth Tk35 lakh from different fishing trawlers on the river when they were fishing hilsa defying the 11-day ban, the navy officer said. Our operation angered the fishermen, he added. On hearing the incident, a police team from Baufal police station rushed to the spot. Lutfor Rahman, a sub inspector of the police station said that the situation is now quite under control. All the fishermen who allegedly besieged the trawler fled the scene immediately after the incident. Meanwhile, illegal fishing of hilsa in different rivers continued yesterday, the sixth day of the 11-day ban. Law enforcers yesterday raided a wholesale market at Kerry Bazar in Bagerhat and seized 15 maunds hilsa from the hidden place of a shed. A mobile team later fined its owner Md Al-Amin Tk4,000, reports our correspondent. On Monday night, police arrested three people with over 60 maunds of hilsa in a covered van from near the Daratana Bridge in Bagerhat town. A mobile court later fined the three Tk9000. In Chandpur, coastguard members seized 80,000 metres of current net and over 80 kg hilsa early yesterday from the Meghna River, reports our correspondent. Also in Munshiganj, they seized around 4,000 pieces of mother hilsa weighing 4 MT and worth Tk21 lakh yesterday. A trawler from Kaliganj in Barisal were taking the fish to the capital city. However, none could be arrested as the boatman jumped into the Dhaleswari River sensing the presence of the law enforcers, coastguard sources told our correspondent.
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