River police have detained Kaiyum Khan, an assistant general manager (AGM) of Krishi Bank, along with others, 14 people in all, for catching hilsa in the Meghna in Chandpur in the final hours of the ban. The drive ran from noon to night on Sunday (3 November), led by Syed Moshfiqur Rahman, superintendent of river police for the Chandpur region.

The superintendent said seven people were detained on one fishing boat during drives at various points on the Meghna. Kaiyum Khan, AGM of the Chandpur branch of Krishi Bank, was detained from that boat. About 1 lakh metres of illegal net was recovered and 100 kg of hilsa seized. Regular cases will be filed against the 14 detainees under the fisheries law.

Syed Moshfiqur Rahman also gave a short press briefing on the 22-day drive. He said 346 fishermen were arrested and 75 lakh 97 thousand metres of net, 2,479 kg of fish and 114 boats were seized. In addition, 29 mobile courts sentenced 156 people to various terms.

Fishing will start again from midnight on Monday at the end of the 22-day ban, the report said. Fishermen have already finished all their preparations to go back on the river.

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