At least 12 youths of Faridpur are missing as of Wednesday in the incident of boat sinking on the way to Italy by illegally crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Libya.
A boat carrying migrants from Libya illegally bound for Italy capsized in hostile weather on Sunday. In this incident, 30 people went missing of whom 12 are from Nagarkanda upazila of Faridpur.
All of them were traveling illegally to Italy through a local ring of brokers.
Torap Molah, father of the missing Russell, said that a deal of Tk8 lakh was made through Murad Fakir, a merchant of Krishnanagar village of Nagarkanda upazila. On January 5, 2023, Russell left home for Italy. He left Dhaka by air on January 8 and reached Libya on January 12 via Dubai. After staying in Libya for two months, the boat sank on the way to Italy on the sea on Sunday.
Dangi union parishad Chairman Kazi Abul Kalam said that Murad is a human trafficker. He earned crores of taka by illegally sending people abroad.
Dhaka TribuneMurad Fakir, the mastermind of the human trafficking ring, was absconding following the incident. However, his associate Imarat Mia of Bashagari village said over phone that he was not involved in human trafficking. “However, I gave few people's money to Murad,” he had said.
Nagarkanda police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Miraj Hossain said that no one has filed any complaint in this regard. If a complaint is received, the matter will be investigated.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Moinul Haque said that no one has made any complaint in this regard. But if anyone complains then legal action will be taken against the brokers.
