Members of Coast Guard and Navy in a joint operation in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday recovered 17 more bodies of the fishermen who went missing a week back.
With the latest ones, 20 bodies of 36 missing fishermen have been recovered so far from the Bay.
Lt Commander Atique of Coast Guard said their Coast Guard and Navy members conducted a joint operation 6 nautical miles away from Kutubdia light house in the Bay with three ships and recovered the floating bodies of the missing fishermen.
A group of fishermen went to the deep sea on March 20 in three trawlers. A gang of 20-25 armed pirates swooped on the trawlers on the mouth of Jahajfari on March 26 while they were returning from the Bay after fishing.
The robbers looted cash, fish, nets and other valuables and kidnapped 36 fishermen along with two trawlers — FB Allahar Dan-1 and FB Allahar Doa.
Local fishermen spotted three bodies of the missing fishermen on Monday.
The bodies will be sent to the village home of the deceased in Banshkhali upazila.
Source: UNB Connect
We are very, very sorry to say that maintaining coast guard and equipping them with sophisticated logistics are just wastage of public money since they have proved totally incapable to secure the safety of the innocent fishermen and subduing pirates, let alone foreign frigates or gunboats. Are they supposed to only recover dead bodies? What will they do if a foreign country invades our territorial waters? The force that cannot fight and eliminate small pirate groups cannot be expected to counter foreign invasion. What explanation do they have for the common people with whose hard earned money they are being paid?