Joint Drive Near Katakhali
13 of 38 kidnapped fishermen rescued
A joint team of Bangladesh Coastguard and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) yesterday rescued 13 of the 38 fishermen, who were kidnapped on Friday, from the deep forest near Katakhali of the Sundarbans under Mongla upazila.
M Saidur Rahman, zonal commander of Coastguard Mongla west zone, told the news agency that they along with members of Rab-6 jointly launched a drive around 2pm in the deep forest and rescued the 13 fishermen.
Manzurul Quader Khan, Commander of Rab-6 Khulna Zone, said they also destroyed some dens and watch towers of the forest robbers.
The robbers released the fishermen and fled away when the members of the law enforcing agencies launched drive in the forest, he said.
Earlier, on Sunday, the joint team launched a drive in the Sundarbans to rescue the 38 fishermen kidnapped by forest robbers near Fairway Buoy of the Bay in Sharankhola upazila on Friday.
Members of 'Sirsha Bahini', a notorious gang, kidnapped the fishermen along with three trawlers.
They also looted fishes, nets and other valuables worth Tk 20 lakh from 25 fishing trawlers in the area, leaving eight fishermen injured.
The gang demanded Tk 50,000 as ransom for release of each fisherman. They also threatened to kill the fishermen if the demand was not met within seven days.
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