5 fishermen freed after ransom in Sundarbans

Five fishermen were released on Tuesday night after paying ransom, three days after they were kidnapped in the Eastern Sundarbans.

One of the released fishermen was seriously injured after being beaten by the kidnappers and was admitted to hospital.

Mostafizur Rahman, a fish trader from Rampal, told this correspondent over the phone on Wednesday afternoon that members of the Choto Jahangir Bahini kidnapped five fishermen from the Laitrakhali area of Dublar Char in the Sharankhola Range of the Eastern Sundarbans on the night of June 13 and demanded ransom for their release.

After receiving Tk 40,000 in ransom for each fisherman through bKash, the bandits released them late on Tuesday (June 16). One of the kidnapped fishermen, Shariful Islam, was severely beaten by the kidnappers and sustained serious injuries.

The released fishermen are Hanif, Zakir, Shamim and Akubbor, all from Bogi under Kachua Upazila in Bagerhat district, and Shariful Islam, 30, from Sreefaltala village in Rampal Upazila of the same district.

Shariful Islam was admitted to the Rampal Upazila Health Complex on Wednesday morning (June 17) for treatment.

A resident of Bogi in Kachua Upazila, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said over the phone that on the night of June 13, while the fishermen were fishing in a canal in the Laitrakhali area near Dublar Char, members of the Choto Jahangir Bahini attacked them.

The bandits took five fishermen from five trawlers onto their own trawler and transported them to an undisclosed location in the Sundarbans.

A forest official at the Dublar Char Patrol Outpost, who also requested anonymity, said they had heard about the kidnapping of the fishermen in the Laitrakhali area.

Rajib Al Rashid, officer-in-charge of Rampal Police Station, said he had learned that a fisherman was injured and admitted to hospital after being beaten by the bandits. However, no one had filed a complaint with the police station regarding the kidnapping or assault as of Wednesday.