Fisherman Akhtar Shot Dead during Drive on the Meghna in Hijla, Four More Wounded

A fisherman named Akhtar Hossain Hawladar (40) has been shot dead in a clash during a law-enforcement drive on the Meghna river in Hijla upazila of Barishal. Four more fishermen were shot and wounded; they are being treated in secret at various places.

The clash took place on Thursday (29 October) on the Meghna near the Shaora Orakul fish landing station in Gourabdi union of Hijla upazila. Akhtar Hossain was the son of Sultan Hawladar of Char Memania village in ward 8 of Memania union in Hijla. As of Thursday noon, when this report was written, his body was at the Hijla Upazila Health Complex.

Local people said the clash between the fishermen and law-enforcement personnel took place late on Wednesday night (28 October), the last day of the ban on catching hilsa, on the Meghna river.

Several local residents, expressing strong anger, said drives during the 21-day ban had been lax, but shots were fired on the last day to demonstrate strictness in the operation.

Local sources said Akhtar Hossain and his companions went out fishing on the Meghna on Wednesday night. Late at night, near the Shaora Orakul fish landing station in Gourabdi union, the fishermen clashed with a law-enforcement team conducting a drive. The source said the raiding team fired indiscriminately in self-defence.

A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said law-enforcement members were conducting a drive to protect mother hilsa on the Meghna adjoining Raipur in Lakshmipur when the clash occurred. A bullet fired by the raiding team in self-defence hit Akhtar Hossain in the chest, and four other fishermen were also shot. Akhtar later died on the way to Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital for advanced treatment. The wounded fishermen have gone into hiding after the incident.

Citing eyewitnesses and the wounded fishermen, the dead man's sister Sathi Akhtar told local journalists that Akhtar Hossain and others had gone fishing on the Meghna on Wednesday night. Early on Thursday, near the Shaora Orakul fish landing station in Gourabdi union of Hijla, her brother was seriously wounded in sudden firing that she attributed to the Coast Guard and the Chandpur naval police. He was first taken to the Hijla Upazila Health Complex.

Sathi Akhtar said: “Our family has no complaint of any kind. So we want to bury my brother's body without a post-mortem.” The Coast Guard and the naval police, however, have denied taking part in any such drive.

A Coast Guard southern zone official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said no Coast Guard operation was under way on the Meghna at the time of the clash. An officer in charge of the naval police's Barishal region told the media that the naval police also had no operation there.

Hijla upazila fisheries officer KM Mahfuzur Rahman said he learned of the fisherman's death on Thursday morning. No team of theirs went to the Meghna on Wednesday night; with their speedboat out of order for two days, they had run only limited drives with a small trawler over the past two days. A raiding team from another district may have conducted the operation there, he said.

Memania union parishad chairman Afsar Uddin said several fishermen informed him early on Thursday that a fisherman had been left lying shot on the Meghna. He went and rescued the fisherman, then informed the police, who took him to the upazila health complex. Who fired the shots is still not known, he said.

Hijla Police Station officer-in-charge (OC) Sulaiman Hossain said the matter is being investigated. Preparations are under way to send Akhtar Hossain's body to the morgue for a post-mortem, and legal action will be taken after the investigation, he said.