Kolkata, Feb 3 (IANS) Eleven Indian fishermen who went missing following an attack by Bangladeshi pirates in West Bengal’s Sundarbans area have been located in Bangladesh and efforts are to bring them back, an official said Friday.
The 11 missing fishermen have been traced at Bagerhat, inside the Sunderbans on the Bangladesh side of the border. Border Security Force personnel are making efforts to bring them back to the country, South 24 Parganas District Magistrate N.S. Nigam said.
A group of fishermen, who hail from South 24 Parganas, had sailed into the sea on Jan 27 and were attacked by the pirates. While 11 of them were abducted along with their trawler, three others were shot dead and eight others injured in the attack, Superintendent of Police L.N. Meena had said.
The Coast Guard and police had launched a massive manhunt for the missing fishermen after the attack.
Sundarbans, the world’s largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest, is shared both by India (West Bengal) and Bangladesh. Nearly 60 percent of the forest is with Bangladesh and the rest is with India.
