SHARANKHOLA, BAGERHAT, May 10: After being held captive by bandits in the Sundarban for seven days in chain, 11 fishermen returned home on Friday evening following a ransom payment of Tk 7 lakh.
On the night of May 3, the bandit Jahangir's gang abducted the 11 fishermen from the Alorkol area of Dublarchar in the eastern Sundarban. Three days after the abduction, another bandit group, Sharif's gang, exchanged gunfire with Jahangir's gang and took the 11 hostages into their custody, holding them in an unknown location within the Sundarban.
Though the fishermen are now safe with their families, bearing marks of inhuman torture and starvation, their families are left helpless under the burden of huge debts.
Rubel Howlader, 30, a fisherman from North Rajapur Village in Sharankhola who returned from captivity, said on Friday night that he and the other ten fishermen were abducted by Jahangir's gang from the Alorkol area of the Sundarban on the night of May 3, demanding ransom, and were kept chained by their feet. On May 5, Sharif's gang exchanged gunfire with Jahangir's gang, snatched them from Jahangir's custody, and held them in an unknown place in the Sundarban.
After receiving the ransom, Sharif's gang released the 11 fishermen by boat in the early hours of Friday, dropping them off at the mouth of the Dhan-sagar-Arvoy river in the Sundarban. They walked about three to four kilometres to reach home. Rubel said that Jahangir's gang had beaten them severely.
Most of the returning fishermen are residents of North Rajapur Village in Sharankhola Upazila, Bagerhat. They are: Sogir (32), Rakib (23), Lutfar Howlader (30), Badal Howlader (35), Sajib Howlader (27), Hafizul (22), Alamgir Faraji (50) and Yasin (23) from North Rajapur; Rubel (50) from Padma Sluice area of Patharghata, Barguna; and two more fishermen from the Khulna area.
The returning fishermen also said that the bandits kept them tied hand and foot with chain deep inside the forest. They suffered inhuman torture throughout the day under the scorching sun, and at night from mosquito bites. They were not given proper food or water. The bandits used the fishermen's mobile phones to repeatedly pressure their families for ransom. To save their lives, their relatives sold livestock and borrowed money at high interest, arranging Tk 7 lakh and delivering it to the spot designated by the bandits.
In the fishermen's hamlet, there is both joy and worry about repaying the Tk 7 lakh debt. Returning fishermen Sogir and Alamgir Farazi said, "We saw death before our eyes. Though we returned after paying the money, we do not know how we will run our households or repay the debt."
A fish trader and moneylender to the fishermen, who wished to remain unnamed for security reasons, said the bandits initially demanded Tk 1 lakh per fisherman. After bargaining, the ransom was fixed at Tk 70,000 per person, paid via bKash, and then the bandits released the fishermen. The money lenders said that no one dares to speak out for fear of falling into danger again while fishing in the Sundarban.
On this matter, the local law enforcement agencies and the Forest Department said that regular patrols have been intensified in the Sundarban to combat banditry. However, after the fishermen returned to their localities, the matter is being examined in detail, and operations continue to bring Jahangir's gang under the law.
