Eighteen fishermen, including the owner of a fishing boat, have been missing for 17 days after heading out to sea in the Bay of Bengal.
Their families have been visiting the Naval Police, Coast Guard, and other relevant authorities in search of information.
Following the incident, Selina Akter, wife of boat owner Ali Akbar, filed a General Diary (GD) at Chittagong’s Sadarghat Naval Police Station.
According to the Naval Police, the Coast Guard and Navy have been informed to help locate the missing fishermen.
Police are also working on their rescue.
The missing fishermen left for the sea on the night of September 13 from the New Fishery Ghat under Bakalia Police Station in Chittagong city aboard the fishing boat "FB Khaja Azmir".
As they did not return within the expected time, their families grew increasingly worried.
In the GD filed on Wednesday, Selina Akter mentioned that her husband, Ali Akbar, has been involved in the fishing business for a long time.
On the night of September 13 at 9pm, he went to sea on his own boat "FB Khaja Azmir" for fishing.
Since then, he, along with the boatman Abu Taher, staff member Jamal, cook Rubel, and around 14-15 other crew members, have been missing.
Selina last spoke to her husband around 9:30pm that night.
Since then, his phone, along with those of the other crew members, has been unreachable.
Speaking to Bangla Tribune, Selina Akter said: “My husband and 17 others went out to sea to fish on September 13. They usually go fishing at sea often and return after a week or 10 days. It has now been 17 days, and they haven’t returned. We’ve had no contact, and we don’t know if they are in danger.”
She added: “After my husband and the others didn’t return, I filed a GD at Sadarghat Naval Police Station on Wednesday. Today (Tuesday), I personally informed the Coast Guard. They assured me that they would look into it.”
In this regard, Mizanur Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of the Sadarghat Naval Police Station, said: “After receiving the complaint, several officers were assigned to locate the missing fishermen. The last known location of their mobile phones was near Matarbari in Maheshkhali on the day they departed from the Karnaphuli River. Since then, their phones have been switched off. We have sent alerts to every police station in the country regarding their disappearance.”
