Fishermen from the Kolkata area of West Bengal were taken into custody by the Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) after a trawler slipped into international waters, police said on Sunday.
The 14 men are all from Kultali, a small fishing village in the South 24 Parganas district. They had set sail in a trawler called the FB Shuvojatra on October 13. The vessel’s engine failed in deep water, and the trawler drifted off course into Bangladeshi territory. Once the international boundary was crossed, the BCG and the Bangladesh Army seized the ship.
A senior officer from South 24 Parganas confirmed that the fishermen’s families had been notified and that authorities were working to negotiate their release. The families can’t contact their relatives, who are being held in Bangladesh, and the community is anxious as a festive season approaches.
The fishermen’s group has urged both governments to step in and bring the crew home. Security agencies in West Bengal are already investigating the case.
The incident comes on the heels of a wave of border skirmishes last month, when about 13 Bangladeshi fishermen trespassed into West Bengal. The Indian Coast Guard had recently seized a Bangladeshi trawler that had crossed the maritime boundary into Indian waters. Officials say the porous riverine border between India and Bangladesh makes such incursions common, especially in the Sunderbans region.
As authorities probe the detention, both sides are keen to find a swift resolution that keeps the fishermen safe and restores peace along the shared coastline.
Source: ianslive
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