Chandpur river police carried out a crackdown in the sanctuaries of the Padma and Meghna to protect mother hilsa during the breeding season. In the drive, which ran from dawn to 11am on Saturday, the sixth day of the campaign, 31 fishermen were detained along with 75 kg of mother hilsa and 55 lakh metres of current net.

Superintendent of Police for the river police's Chandpur region Mohammad Kamruzzaman and District Fisheries Officer Golam Mehedi Hasan took part. Police from four outposts and one police station joined the drive. Additional Superintendent of the river police Belayet Hossain, Sadar Upazila Fisheries Officer Sudip Bhattacharya and other officials were also present.

Superintendent of Police Mohammad Kamruzzaman told BSS the drive was carried out from Saturday morning in several areas of the Padma and Meghna in and around Rajrajeshwar in Chandpur Sadar. He said the fishermen tried to flee quickly with their nets and boats when they saw the team. From the nets of the 31 detained fishermen, 75 kg of mother hilsa, eight boats and about 55 lakh metres of current net were seized.

Over the six days of the campaign so far, a total of 1 crore 10 lakh metres of current net, 15 engine-driven fishing boats and about 400 kg of hilsa have been seized in Chandpur district, and 80 fishermen detained. Executive magistrates of mobile courts have filed regular cases against those detained and handed down sentences of various terms.

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