Six fishermen returned after ransom in Sundarbans abduction, while four remain captive as pirates evade crackdowns and authorities continue patrols and rescue efforts in Bangladesh’s forest waterways amid security drives.
Six Bangladeshi fishermen have returned home after paying ransom to pirates in the Sundarbans, while four others abducted in the same incident remain in captivity, according to victims and local sources.
The freed fishermen arrived in their villages in Shyamnagar upazila of Satkhira district, a coastal district in southwestern Bangladesh bordering the Sundarbans, on Thursday and Friday, days after being kidnapped on March 30 from rivers inside the Sundarbans, a vast mangrove forest spanning southern Bangladesh and eastern India that is home to the endangered Bengal tiger and a network of remote waterways often used by fishermen and honey collectors.
Those released on Friday night were identified as Anarul, Imran and Sushanta. Earlier on Thursday, Saddam, Yunus Ali and Saiful Islam returned home. All are residents of Chunakuri and Chhoto Vetkhali villages under Munshiganj union in Shyamnagar.
According to the victims and their families, a group identifying themselves as members of the Don Bahini and Alif, also known as Alim Bahini, abducted 10 fishermen from the Chunakuri, Malancha and Mamundo rivers.
Families paid varying ransom amounts to secure their release. Saddam was freed after 40,000 taka was paid, while Anarul, Sushanta and Imran were released for 35,000 taka each. Relatives of Yunus Ali and Saiful Islam paid 25,000 taka each.
Four fishermen, including Enamul and Hazrat, remained missing as of Saturday.
Fishermen who regularly travel to the Sundarbans said the pirates moved deeper into the forest with the remaining hostages after security operations intensified. On April 1, State Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Syed Faridul Islam ordered efforts to make the Sundarbans free of pirates, prompting increased patrols by the Rapid Action Battalion, Coast Guard, Border Guard Bangladesh and police.
However, Md Fazlul Haque, station officer of the Burigoalini range under the Satkhira Forest Division, said the department had no official information about the abductions or the return of the fishermen, as no complaints had been filed by the victims’ families.
In a separate incident, forest officials detained seven honey collectors from a sanctuary near the Notabeki patrol outpost for allegedly collecting honey illegally. The detainees were identified as Hazrat Ali, 50, Md Majed, 61, Mukul Hossain, 45, Abdul Mannan, 50, another Abdul Mannan, 50, Omar Faruk, 36, Maksudul, 57 and Asadul, 52, all from Chandnimukha village in Shyamnagar.
Meanwhile, Coast Guard personnel rescued three fishermen from another pirate group on Friday. The rescued men, Intaj, 50, Mosharraf, 42 and Anis, 45, were abducted on March 31 from the Hogoldara canal area of Shyamnagar. They were handed over to their families on Saturday.
Lieutenant Commander Sabbir Alam Sujon, a media officer at Coast Guard headquarters, confirmed the rescue. He also said two members of the Chhoto Jahangir Bahini were arrested early Friday during a raid in the Baintala canal area of Dacope upazila in Khulna, acting on a tip-off.
The suspects, Md Sohag Hawlader, 35, from Shoronkhola in Bagerhat and Babul Sana, 42, from Paikgacha in Khulna, were sent to jail through a court on Saturday, police said.
