A mobile court has sentenced two fishermen to 20 days in jail each for catching hilsa in defiance of the ban in the Meghna river sanctuary at Haimchar, Chandpur. Assistant commissioner (land) Swarup Muhuri conducted the court on Tuesday, 7 October.

Haimchar senior upazila fisheries officer A B M Ashraful Haque confirmed the information.

He said the fishermen, who had come from Mawa, were illegally catching hilsa from a 200cc speedboat near Majhir Bazar in Haimchar upazila. Acting on a tip-off, the drive team chased them at night, detained two people and seized the speedboat. About 1,000 metres of current net were also seized from the boat and burnt in the presence of the executive magistrate.

The assistant commissioner (land) then conducted the mobile court and sentenced the two detained fishermen to 20 days in jail each. The speedboat is being held by the Haimchar senior upazila fisheries officer.

Contingent commander Sanowar Hossain and other members of the Coast Guard's Haimchar Nayani outpost assisted in the drive.

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