UNB, Dhaka :
Three days into the pirate attack on lighterage vessel ‘MV Karnaphuli-5’ in the Meghna River, the body of its driver Noor Newaz was found floating in the river in Ramgati upazila of Laxmipur district early hours on Monday.
Hajirhat police camp in-charge M Farid Uddin Khan told our Laxmipur correspondent that local people spotted the body of the deceased floating in the river near Machghat area of Alexandar Bazaar in Ramgati upazila and informed police.
Police went to the spot and recovered the body at around 1:30pm.
Later, the vessel’s owner Abdus Salam Zaved identified the deceased as the vessel’s driver Noor Newaz, son of Amzad Hossain of Balidia village in Mohammadpur upazila in Magura.
Three other vessel’s crew are still missing. Meanwhile, the Lighterage vessel strike, enforced by Bangladesh Lighterage Shramik Union to protest the incident, continued for the third consecutive day on Monday.
While talking to our Chittagong correspondent, Bangladesh Lighterage Shramik Union joint-secretary Khurshed Alam said, “We will continue the strike until and unless all the missing crew of the vessel are rescued.”
He also stressed that the authorities must assure the workers in the sector of proper steps to curb the pirate attacks that have been frequently taking place over the last few years.
A gang of pirates swooped on a Sirajganj-bound fertiliser-laden lighterage vessel when it reached Batirkhal in Laxmipur district on Friday and looted the fertiliser on Friday night. Seven crew of the vessel out of 10 went missing during the incident.
On Saturday noon, police rescued three of the missing workers from the Meghna River in Kamalnagar upazila of Laxmipur.
The rescued workers are Parvez Hossain, son of Jasim Uddin in Hatia upazila of Noakhali district, Mahbub Hossain, son of late Abdul Aziz of Shyampur village in Sadar upazila of Bhola district, and Zahidul Islam, son of Maksudul Khan of Charnarayan Malka Bhanga village in Faridpur district.
On Sunday, a case was filed in this connection by the vessel’s owner with Kamalnagar Police Station in Laxmipur against five suspects, including four of the crew.
