The Bangladesh Coast Guard and Bangladesh Navy detained 48 Indian fishermen along with three fishing trawlers due to illegal fishing in Bangladesh’s territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal in Mongla Port area.
On the other hand, the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) detained six Bangladeshi people, including three of a family, while they were allegedly trying to trespass into India through the border in Panchagarh.
It was known that the Bangladesh Coast Guard and Bangladesh Navy detained 48 Indian fishermen along with drawlers in the wee hours on Friday.
The trawlers and the fishermen were detained in the deep sea near the Fairway area, close to Mongla Port. The detained trawlers and fishermen were later handed over to the Mongla police station.
According to the Mongla police, citing the Navy and the Coast Guard, the Indian fishermen were found fishing illegally in Bangladesh's maritime territory.
The Navy and Coast Guard, while patrolling the sea, apprehended the three trawlers along with the 48 Indian fishermen. The detained trawlers and fishermen were then taken to the Navy and Coast Guard offices in Mongla.
The 2,700kg of Hilsa, along with other species of fish found on the trawlers, were auctioned off.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Mongla police station Md Anisur Rahman said that two separate cases were filed by the Coast Guard and Navy regarding the incident. The detained fishermen were presented before the court on Friday afternoon.
Meanwhile, members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) detained Ganesh Roy, 43, his wife Babita Roy, 36, their son Drisha Roy, 10, Debendra Roy, 22, Joyanta Roy, 19, and Ripon Roy, 19, from border area in Panchagarh.
The detainees hailed from various areas under Birganj upazila of Dinajpur.
According to a media release sent from the BGB-56 in Nilphamari under Thakurgaon sector, a team of the frontier force conducted a drive in bordering Goalpara area under Panchagarh Sadar upazila after being informed that some Bangladeshis were trying to cross into India with the help of brokers. Later they were detained.
During primary interrogation, the detainees admitted they gave Tk one lakh in cash to brokers to help them go to India, according to the release.
The detainees were handed over to the relevant police station, it said.
