Thirteen fishermen have been detained and jailed by a mobile court in Barguna for fishing in the Bishkhali river in defiance of the government ban meant to protect mother hilsa.

The district fisheries department ran the drive in the Bishkhali river at Naltona in the Sadar upazila from Tuesday (21 October) afternoon until 11pm. Senior Upazila Fisheries Officer of the Sadar upazila Maruf Hossain Minar confirmed the matter in the morning.

Those detained were Md Palash, Md Awal, Md Monir, Sagor, Chhagir, Md Nuruzzaman, Rakib, Ripon Mia, Rajib Sikder, Joy Biswas, Sushil Chandra Howlader, Masud and trawler owner Ripon Sikder. Trawler owner Ripon Sikder was given 15 days' simple imprisonment and the other 12 fishermen seven days each.

Barguna Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Yasin Arafat Rana handed down the sentences through the mobile court.

According to the district fisheries department, the drive was launched after a tip-off that fishermen were casting nets in the Bishkhali at Naltona on Tuesday. About one maund of fish, including young hilsa, was seized and donated to several orphanages, and the illegal nets were burnt.

Maruf Hossain Minar told Jago News that 54 mobile courts had been held in Barguna since the ban began. About 187kg of hilsa had been seized and distributed to orphanages, and a total of 19 fishermen, including the 13 detained in this drive, had been given jail terms of various lengths.

UNO Md Yasin Arafat Rana told Jago News that the 13 fishermen were detained in a joint drive by the police and the fisheries department, and were then jailed through the mobile court.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.