The bodies of another 17 fishermen were reported to be floating in the sea.
Local fishermen Ekram Miah and Bazal Ahmed said they spotted the bodies of some 20 fishermen at Jahajfari of Kutubdia Channel in the afternoon while returning from the Bay of Bengal after catching fish, and informed their fellows on the mouth of Jahajfari.
Later, the fishermen returned to the spot with a trawler, identified three of the bodies, with their hands and legs tied, and retrieved them.
The victims are Nizam, 30, and Sagir, 38, of trawler FB Allahar Dan-2, owned by Abul Hossain, and Yunus, 25, of FB Allahar Dan-1 owned by Jafar Sawdagar. The deceased hailed from Tekerpara under Shekherkhil Union of Banshkhali upazila.
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 of Bengal after catching fish.
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.
The bodies of three of the missing fishermen were recovered on Monday. The rest of the fishermen were also feared dead.
Officer-in-charge of Banshkhali police station Quamrul Islam said they could know from local fishermen that the bodies of fishermen were floating in the sea. “We’ve launched a drive after the evening to recover the bodies.”
A pall of gloom descended on the fishermen’s villages following the recovery of three bodies.
Distraught relatives of the missing fishermen thronged the seacoast for news of their near and dear ones.
