Nurul Hossain, Teknaf (Cox’s Bazar)
Arakan Army captured 18 fishermen along with three fishing boats while they were fishing in the Badar Hacha Sea, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, Teknaf, St. Martin, Cox’s Bazar. Currently, three fishing boats are at the Naikhongdia port in Myanmar. The fishermen in the custody of the Arakan Army, residents of Ward 7 of St. Martin’s Galachipa, are Abu Taher Majhi, Moni Ullah, Rahmat Ullah, Abu Bakkar, Syed Ullah, Rafiq, Abshar Majhi, Md. Taher, Matlab, Hafez Ahmed, Md. Amin, Sala Uddin, Jahangir Alam, Alamgir Majhi, Abdur Rahim, Md. Alam, Sabbir, and Tayyub. At 6 am on August 31, the Arakan Army captured 18 fishermen along with three boats from the sea southwest of St. Martin’s Island. The fishing boat is known to be owned by Abshar, Abu Taher and Alamgir, residents of the Galachipa area of St. Martin’s Ward No. 7. Mohammad Aziz, president of the St. Martin Fishing Boat Owners Association, said that at 6 am yesterday, the Myanmar Arakan Army captured 18 fishermen along with three fishing boats in two speedboats while they were fishing in the Badar Hacha sea in Bangladeshi waters southeast of St. Martin Island. I learned about the capture of three fishing boats and the fishermen who were taken away at 7 am on Monday morning from the fishermen who returned to the pier. He said that the three fishing boats seized were from the St. Martin’s Galachipa wharf. Initially, I learned that the fishermen in the custody of the Arakan Army were residents of the Galachipa area. The matter has been reported to the Coast Guard, BGB, and police. It is worth noting that from August 5 to August 28, 69 fishermen were abducted by the Myanmar rebel group, the Arakan Army. The Myanmar Arakan Army has not yet released the detained fishermen.