Four fishermen were rescued after a gunfight between forest guards and a gang of robbers at Singartek in Kokilmoni area of the Sundarbans on Wednesday morning.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Md Rezaul Karim Chowdhury said during a joint patrol by the Shelarchar patrol team and the Smart Team, the robbers’ presence was detected in Singartek area.
When the patrol team conducted a drive the robbers opened fire, triggering a gunfight with the forest guards.
About seven rounds were fired during the gunfight and the robbers later fled the scene, leaving behind a trawler and four hostages.
After the gunfight, forest guards rescued four fishermen who had been tied up. They also recovered an engine-run boat, a rifle and ammunition left by the robbers.
The rescued fishermen are Abdul Barek Khan of Sonatala village in Sharankhola upazila, Md Hasan of the same upazila, Nasim of Batiaghata upazila in Khulna, and Irak Sheikh of Dakop upazila.
The DFO said the rescued fishermen are now at the Shelarchar patrol post and arrangements are being made to return them to their families.
The robbers involved are believed to be members of the ‘Sharif Bahini’.