Five Bangladeshi fishermen who had been held captive by the Arakan Army, a separatist organization in Myanmar, while they were fishing in the Naf River, were freed today by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
“The Arakan Army handed over the five Bangladeshi fishermen to the BGB at about 1:30 pm today,” said a release signed by Lt Col Mohiuddin Ahmed, commanding officer of BGB-2 Teknaf Battalion.
The Bangladeshi fishermen are Md Alam, 22, Russell Mia, 23, his siblings Saiful Islam, 17, and Borhan Uddin, 19, all from the Jaliapara hamlet in Teknaf; and Md Rashed, 24, from Chakaria in Cox’s Bazar. They are being held captive by the Arakan Army.
The fishermen who had been saved were then given to their families by the BGB.
When the fishermen from Jaliapara neighborhood of Shahparir Dwip in Teknaf went to the Naf River to fish with a trawler at around 3 p.m. on October 07, the Arakan Army captured them.
They once unintentionally approached a location known as Kaing Chong in the waters of Myanmar while fishing and crossed the zero line separating Bangladesh and Myanmar.
The fishermen and the trawler were taken into custody by the Arakan Army, an armed separatist group in Myanmar, for breaking the law.
It is reported here that fishing in the Naf River is absolutely forbidden following the 2017 Rohingya immigration event.
Nonetheless, it stated that Bangladeshi fishermen frequently travel in secret to the Naf River to fish.The BGB notice also stated that everyone has been asked to exercise caution in the meantime.
