Munshiganj boat capsize: 8 bodies recovered, five still missing
Staff Reporter :
The Naval Police has conducted an operation in the rivers Meghna and Padma following the trawler sinking incident in Munshiganj where eight innocent people died.
However, five people are still missing in Saturday’s trawler incident in Munshiganj.
The naval police have arrested 62 people including dredger drivers, labourers and employees during the operation.
According to the sources of the Department of Shipping (DoS), at least 18 bulkhead accidents took place killing about 20 people in last one year in the country.
During the operation, police also seized 28 bulkheads loaded with sand and three sand lifting dredgers, Chandpur Naval Police Superintendent Mohammad Kamruzzaman confirmed the matter to this correspondent.
A total of five units of the naval police conducted the operation from last Saturday night to Sunday morning at different places of Meghna River. This operation was led by the officer in charge of Chandpur Naval Police Outpost Police Station,” Police Super Mohammad Kamruzzaman said.
According to Chandpur Naval Police Superintendent, they have been receiving complaints for a few days that a group is illegally extracting sand from different points of the Padma and Meghna Rivers in Chandpur, Shariatpur and Hijla areas.
Despite the government ban, they almost cause accidents as they move with bulkheads in the dark of night, he said adding that some people also died on Saturday night when a trawler hired for a picnic party sank after being hit by a sand-laden bulkhead at Munshiganj.
For this, the naval police has increased the mobile operation and the bulkheads and dredgers were seized as part of a series of operations, he added.
The seized 28 bulkheads, 3 dredgers and detained 62 people are in police custody in Alur Bazar area. We are taking preparation to file case against the detained persons,” Mohammad Kamruzzaman said.
Earlier on Saturday evening, a picnic trawler sank after being hitby a bulkhead in the Taltala-Gourganj canal of Raskathi area under Lauhjong upazila around eight o’clock.
Eight bodies have been recovered in this incident. They are Mokseda Begum (40), Happy Akhter (28), Popy Akhter (30), Poppy’s two sons Sakibul (10) and Sajibul (4), Humaira (5-months baby), Farian (8) and Rakibul (12). They all are from Latabdi Union of Sirajdikhan Upazila.
A five-member probe committee led by Additional District Magistrate Sharmin Ara has been formed in this regard.
The committee has been asked to submit report within three working days, Deputy Commissioner of Munshiganj Md Abuzafar Ripon said.
Deputy Director of BIWTA Obaidul Karim said that some relatives of the sunken boat claimed that five people are still missing. Of them, two are minor children and three women, he added.
