Five Bangladeshi fishermen, along with a boat, were abducted by members of the Arakan Army, an armed group in Myanmar, from the Naf River in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar.
They were abducted on Tuesday morning around 8:30am from an area near the Naf River estuary close to Naikhongchhari in the Bay of Bengal.
Teknaf Upazila Executive Officer (UNO) Sheikh Ehsan Uddin said inquiries were being conducted to ascertain the whereabouts of the abducted fishermen.
The fishermen abducted are: Ilyas, son of Ali Ahmed of Jalia Para village on Shah Porir Island under Sabrang Union, Teknaf Upazila, Ilyas’s son Akkal Ali and Nur Hossain, Saber Hossain, son of Kalu Mia and Saiful Islam, son of Nur Hossain.
At the time, the five fishermen had gone to the Naf River estuary for fishing with small nets in a boat.
According to Abdul Gani, president of the Shah Porir Island Jalia Para Fishermen Association, members of the Arakan Army approached them in a speedboat and abducted them at gunpoint.