A 25‑year‑old fisherman from Kakdwip, West Bengal, died in a Bangladeshi jail, local police said on Sunday. The man, Babul Das, was born mute and deaf but otherwise healthy.
Das, who lived in West Gangadharpur, was taken into custody on July 13 when the Bangladesh Navy seized two trawlers, FB Mangalchandi and FB Jhar, and boarded 34 Indian fishermen, including him. The vessels had left Kakdwip to hunt Hilsa in deep‑sea waters that Bangladesh says belong to it. After the arrest, the navy handed the fishermen over to the Mongla Port Police in Bangladesh, where a case was filed. A Bagerhat court ordered the men into judicial custody, and they have remained in Bangladeshi jails as under‑trial prisoners ever since.
Police reports said Das died of a heart attack while in custody. The Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata confirmed his death over the phone. However, his brother, Basudeb Das, said the family is uneasy about the cause. “Babul had no other illness. He was strong and healthy. The death feels suspicious. We fear he may have been tortured,” Basudeb told reporters. He wants the body returned to Kakdwip for a second autopsy.
Sundarban Shramjivi Matsya Union Secretary Satinath Patra met the family after the news. He promised officials would return Babul’s body to India as soon as possible. “It is a sad loss,” Patra said. “We will do our best to bring him home.”
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