Seventy-nine Bangladeshi fishermen and sailors, who were captured by the Indian Coast Guard while fishing on Monday, are yet to be released, leaving family members concerned. Sources said the Indian Coast Guard took away the Bangladeshis along with the two fishing trawlers they were on - FV Meghna-5 and FV Laila-2 - from the Khulna region of the Bay of Bengal, where they were fishing on Monday afternoon. The owners of the two vessels said they were trying to get back the trawlers, but unable to establish any contact with India. Mintu Kumar Saha, chief commercial official of Laila Group, said they came to know that the trawlers were being taken towards the Indian coastal state of Odisha, but "didn’t know why the trawlers and fishermen were captured despite fishing in Bangladeshi maritime territory only". Md Abdus Sattar, director (maritime) at maritime fisheries office, said they, including Coast Guard and Navy, have started activities to bring back the trawlers with everyone on them as soon as possible. Read: Arakan Army returns 20 Bangladeshi fishermen taken from Naf River Sailors’ organizations and trawlers’ owners demanded immediate release of the captured fishermen and hoped that the government would take measures in this regard. Throughout Monday and much of Tuesday, Indian media gave this story a total pass. It was only around Tuesday evening that it started appearing on some outlets, after PTI reported on the basis of a Coast Guard statement. Not surprisingly, the Indian side's version is significantly different. Rather, it said the vessels -- "FV Laila-2 and FV Meghna-5, were found engaged in unauthorised fishing activities in Indian waters near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), violating the international maritime laws and bilateral agreements." It also said approximately 160 tonnes of fish were found in the two vessels. Subsequently, the vessels and the crew members were taken to Paradip in Odisha, as some have suspected, for what it called "further investigation". The two vessels have also been booked under the Maritime Zones of India Act, 1981, says the PTI report. Read more: Arakan Army capture 20 Bangladeshi fishermen from Naf River Another minor difference is that Bangladesh is saying 79 detained, but India acknowledges only 78, with 41 from FV Laila-2 and 37 on FV Meghna-5.  

Four fishing trawlers from Bhola’s Lalmohan upazila sank in the Bay of Bengal at Cox’s Bazar’s Fishing Ground point with 60 fishermen on board after getting caught in a storm on Friday night. Although 13 fishermen have been rescued and kept at safe shelters in the Sundarbans and Hatia areas, 47 of them are still missing, said Tanvir Ahmed, Marine Fisheries Officer of the upazila. According to locals, the sunken trawlers belonged to Lalmohan Batir Khal area’s Harunur Rashid Faruque, Lord Hardinge Burirdhan area’s Nuruddin Majhi and Gaitta area’s Nazim Uddin Majhi. Also read: 34 fishermen go missing as 11 trawlers sink in Bay Faruk, owner of the trawler FV Lamiya, said that his trawler set sail towards the Bay from Batirkhal area with 13 fishermen on board on August 17. “The trawler came across a storm and capsized on Friday night. On Saturday, I came to know that eight of the fishermen were rescued and brought back to safety while five others were still missing. The missing fishermen are Abdul Motaleb, Abul Kalam, Md Arif, Md Maksud and Md Nirob,” said Faruk. Abul Kashem Mia, a UP chairman from Lalmohan area, said that five fishermen from the other three trawlers have been rescued. Also read: 11 fishermen missing as another trawler sinks in Bay “They are currently in Hatia. 42 fishermen are still missing,” said Kashem.

Sundarbans forest authorities have arrested as many as 44 fishermen for illegally entering the reversed canal areas adjacent to Meher Ali Char in Sharankhola upazila of Bagerhat. Acting on a tip-off, a forest department team nabbed the fishermen on Monday night as they were gearing up to catch fish, and seized their four trawlers. Read: 4 ‘deer poachers’ held in Sundarbans "The fishermen are residents of Pirojpur district. The arrests came on a tip-off," said Muhammad Belayet Hossain, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO). The arrested fishermen have been kept at the Dubla Jalepalli patrol outpost of the forest department. "Legal action will be taken against them," Belayet said. Mohammad Shamsul Arefin, assistant forest conservator (ACF), said that group had been fishing in the forest areas for several days. Read: Effective strategies adopted to protect Sundarbans: Environment Minister During interrogation, they admitted their guilt. "So, they would be made to pay fines," he said. The seized trawlers are FB Mama-Bhagne, FB Tahira-1, FB Yusuf and FB Maaer Doa. "The owners of the trawlers also belong to Pirojpur district," he added.