Bangladesh Coast Guard claimed to have detained 33 people, including 29 Rohingya refugees, in the early hours of Tuesday after their trawler sank in the Bay of Bengal off Teknaf coast.

The trawler capsized around 6am near the Baharchhara area of Teknaf, said an official at Coast Guard headquarters in Dhaka.

"Acting on a tip-off, members of the Teknaf Coast Guard rescued the 29 Rohingyas and four Bangladeshi nationals from the sea," he said.

During questioning, they told the Coast Guard that they were to trying to flee to Malaysia illegally. "The 33 people have been detained," said the official.

Legal action is underway in this regard and the detainees will be handed over to police, he added.