- Web Master
- October 21, 2024
Narinjara News, 14 October 2024
On October 14, the Arakan Army (AA) declared in a statement
that it had successfully rescued sixteen Bangladeshi people who had been left
behind in the Bay of Bengal. After being rescued by the Arakan People's
Revolutionary Government's Coast Guard, they were turned over to the Border
Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
The statement claims that on September 28,
2024, at around nine in the morning, the 16 fishermen from Bangladesh had gone
out to fish in the Bay of Bengal. On October 4, at about six o'clock in the
evening, a group of armed pirates ambushed their trawler.
According to the statement, the pirate group—which was made
up of roughly sixty Bengalis—carried out the attack using three motorboats. The
fishermen were taken prisoner by the pirates, who imprisoned them in their own
trawler and took everything from gasoline to food, rice, oil, salt, money,
phones, and fishing nets.
The pirates also beat the Bangladeshi fishermen with sticks and gunbutts. They were confined in the trawler's belly for two days after the attack, without access to food or water.
The fishermen said that the armed pirates surrounded their trawler with three motorboats and threatened to shoot and murder them, according to a statement from the Arakan Army.
At roughly 4:00 am on October 7, 2024, in Maungdaw Town,
Arakan Region, the pirates attempted to land the trawler close to the shore of
Kyauk Pan Du. But according to the statement, at around 6:30 in the morning,
the Arakan Coast Guard found the trawler and managed to save all 16 fishermen,
including their leader, Bangladeshi fisherman Hama Ulas.
The fishermen who had been hurt during the pirate raid
received medical attention from the Arakan Army (AA) during the rescue.
Following the rescue, the Border Guard
Bangladesh (BGB) and other pertinent authorities were notified by the Arakan
Army (AA). At Bangladesh's Shaporir Jetty, the fishermen were safely turned
over to the BGB and police on October 14, 2024, at 6:15 pm.
The fishermen were identified as one each from
Panchhori and Pichari villages in Sabrang, Teknaf, and fourteen members of
Islampur village in Cox's Bazar City, Cox's Bazar District.