Police arrest two over killing of 10 fishermen

The police have arrested two people, including the prime accused, in the case filed over the recovery of 10 bodies from a fishing trawler in the coastal area of the Bay of Bengal in Cox’s Bazar on Sunday, reports UNB.

The arrestees are prime accused Baitta Kamal and his associate Karim Sikdar, said police. Confirming their arrest, Md Mahfuzul Islam, superintendent of police (SP) of the district, said they arrested the two accused from Maheshkhali’s Matarbari area on Tuesday.

The arrestees have confessed to be involved in the killing of the 10 fishermen during the primary interrogation, the SP said.

The arrestees would be produced before a court with a prayer for remand for unveiling more information about the sensational incident, Mahfuzul Islam told the newspersons.

Earlier, Rokeya Akter, wife of one of the victims Shamsul Islam, filed a murder case naming four and accusing 60 others at Cox’s Bazar Sadar police station on Monday.

Asked whether all the victims were pirates, he said, “It is not clear as yet. However, the deceased Shamsul Islam and Nurul Kabir were accused of drugs and robbery cases respectively.”

Earlier on Sunday, decomposed bodies of 10 people were recovered from a decaying fishing trawler from Nazira point of Cox's Bazar sea beach.

The fishing trawler was towed to the shore, which went missing two to three weeks ago. The trawler was caught in the net of another fishing trawler. Later, fishermen nearby pulled the trawler out of the water. The bodies were sent to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital morgue for autopsies later.

The deceased fishermen are - Shamsul Alam, 23; Saiful Islam, 18; Sawkat Ullah, 18; Osman Gani, 17; Saifullah, 23; Parvez Musharraf, 14; Nurul Kabir, 28; Saiful Islam, 34; Mohammad Shahjahan, 35; and Tarek Zia, 25.