After spending a year of jail in Bangladesh, 153 fishermen
After more than a year in a jail in Bangladesh, 135 fishermen have now returned to their homes in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas, according to their union.
According to the report, eight trawlers with these fishermen on board entered Bangladeshi waters in June of last year as a result of high currents in the Bay of Bengal.
According to Satinath Patra, the secretary of the Sundarban Saamudrik Matsyajibi Sramik Union, they were seized by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and turned over to the local police at Mongla Port in Khulna.
They were released from the neighbouring nation on October 3 as a result of concerted actions at several levels, including the Union Home Ministry, and with the assistance of the Bangladeshi authorities, he said.
They arrived in several Kakdwip ghats on Thursday, he added.
“We are happy that they could come back to their families finally. These fishermen are residents of different villages in Kakdwip and Namkhana,” Patra said.
“Two more trawlers in which 30 fishermen were on board are still in Bangladesh. Efforts are on for their return,” he said.
