The boatman of one of six trawlers carrying 95 Indian fishermen, who were imprisoned in Bangladesh for two-and-a-half months, claimed on Thursday that the Coast Guard of the neighbouring country had not allowed them to rescue one of their colleagues who had fallen into the Bay of Bengal.
Subhas Das, the boatman of trawler Abhijit-3, said a vessel of the Bangladesh Coast Guard had started chasing them on the morning of October 16, when they were near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).
“The Bangladeshi vessel intentionally hit our trawler, which narrowly escaped capsising, causing five fishermen to fall into the sea. We immediately dropped a rope and rescued four, including my 18-year-old son Manas,” said the 49-year-old Subhas, who was carrying 16 fishermen on his trawler.
Abhijit-3 had started its journey on October 15 in search of a good Hilsa catch. While the other five vessels detained in Bangladeshi water had ventured in small groups of two and three, Abhijit-3 went alone.
According to Subhas, Gunamani Das, 60, could not catch the rope and began
to drown.
“We requested Bangladeshi Coast Guard officials for a few minutes to search for Gunamani as he was elderly. They refused and we protested. They opened fire twice in the air and threatened to shoot us if we didn’t board their vessel. Amid such threats, we had no choice but to leave him behind,” added Subhas, a resident of Trilokchandrapur village in Kakdwip.
In a joint repatriation programme held on the IMBL on December 5, Bangladesh and India handed over 94 and 90 fishermen, respectively, to each other. The 94 fishermen reached Sagar Island on January 6, where chief minister Mamata Banerjee
felicitated them.
Subhas said had they been given a few more minutes, they could have rescued Gunamani as they had done earlier.
“I never imagined they would refuse to save someone’s life. They took us on their vessel and tortured us brutally. They kicked me in the chest several times, despite my son pleading with them not to, as I have some cardiac issues,” said the boatman.
Subhas’s claim shocked the fishermen’s community, who had previously been informed that Gunamani had jumped into the sea to avoid arrest by the Bangladeshi forces.
The Bangladesh Coast Guard also told its counterpart that Gunamani had jumped into the sea.
“We knew that a few fishermen jumped into the sea to avoid arrest, and one of them went missing in the Bay of Bengal. However, after their return, the fishermen disclosed horrifying details. The Bangladesh Coast Guard’s inhumane attitude and negligence cost the life of an innocent fisherman,” said Satinath Patra, the secretary of the Sundarban Samudrik Matshyajibi Shramik Union, an association of fishermen in South 24-Parganas.
“It never happened when fishermen were caught during the Sheikh Hasina regime,” he added.
On Monday, Mamata handed over a cheque for ₹2 lakh as compensation to Putuli Das, the wife of Gunamani.
After learning about the fate of her husband from Subhas and other fishermen, Putuli told reporters that she felt as though her husband had been killed. “If they had searched for him for just a few minutes, he might have been alive. Now, there is no one to feed my family,” she said.