The Navy and Coast Guard have detained 48 Indian fishermen along with three fishing trawlers for entering Bangladesh's waters in the Bay of Bengal to fish.

They were held in the deep sea near the fairway close to Mongla port. The detained fishermen have been handed over to Mongla police station.

According to Mongla police station, the Indian fishermen had entered Bangladeshi waters and were fishing when Navy and Coast Guard ships patrolling the maritime boundary detained the 48 men and three trawlers on Thursday. The trawlers and fishermen were brought to the Navy and Coast Guard offices in Mongla that night. The 2,700 kg of hilsa and other fish on board were auctioned the same night for Tk 3.25 lakh. At 4am the trawlers and fishermen were handed over to Mongla police station.

Md Anisur Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Mongla police station, said the Coast Guard and the Navy were preparing to file separate cases. Once the cases were filed, the fishermen would be sent to Bagerhat jail on Friday afternoon, he said.

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