Twenty fishermen, along with their 17 boats, have reportedly been abducted and taken to Myanmar while fishing in the Naf River in Teknaf, Cox's Bazar on Tuesday (November 5) evening.
Abdus Salam, a member of the Subrang Union Parishad, claims that members of the Arakan Army, a Myanmar armed group, detained the fishermen near the confluence of the Naf River and the Bay of Bengal, close to the Naikhongdia area around 5PM on Tuesday.
He said the fishermen were fishing in the estuary with two engine-run boats and 13 non-engine boats. Each boat carried one or two fishermen using small nets to catch fish.
The Arakan Army members arrived in larger boats and abducted the fishermen at gunpoint.
All of the fishermen are from the Jaliapara area of Shapuree Island in Subrang Union, Teknaf.
Teknaf Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Adnan Chowdhury also acknowledged the matter.
He said that he has learned that the Arakan Army has abducted 20 fishermen while fishing in the Naf River. The BGB is working to rescue them.
The names and identities of the fishermen were not immediately available.
Earlier, on October 9, the Myanmar Navy abducted 58 fishermen along with 6 trawlers from the Bangladesh side of the Bay of Bengal between St. Martin's Island and Myanmar. Among them, one died and 2 were injured in the firing by the Myanmar Navy. On October 10, the Myanmar Navy returned the fishermen in two batches, along with the body of one.
