Tourist kidnapper nabbed in Sundarbans

Bagerhat Correspondent:

Coast Guard of the Western Zone deployed Mongla (under Bagerhat district) arrested two bandits, including Masum Mridha (23), the main mastermind behind the kidnapping of tourists in the Sundarbans. Weapons, bullets and various items taken from the kidnappers were recovered during the raid. They were arrested from the Dhankhali area adjacent to the Sundarbans at Wednesday night, according to a delayed report received here.

The Coast Guard said that some tourists from Dhaka had boarded the Gol Kanan Resort in the Sundarbans on January 02. That afternoon, when they, along with the resort owner, went on a trip to the forest river, the bandit Masum Band kidnapped them when the wooden boat reached the area adjacent to Kanurkhal in the forest. After about 3 hours, they returned the four people, including two female tourists, and took the owner of the Gol Kanan Resort and the remaining two tourists’ hostage and took them into custody and demanded a large ransom. When the resort authorities informed the Coast Guard about the matter, the Coast Guard, RAB and police rescued the hostage tourists and the resort owner after a 48-hour operation using joint financial tracing.