The seven Bangladeshi nationals, who were released by Somali pirates after three and a half years, returned home on Thursday. They gave vivid description of their ordeals as hostage of the pirates after arriving in Dhaka. The seven freed sailors were taken to the Marino residential hotel in Uttara from the Shahjalal International Airport. Zakir Hossain, one of the sailors, spoke to reporters at the hotel’s reception. “We were tortured and beaten up; sometimes we were given food only once a day. “They called up our family and demanded ransom. Had we not had Allah’s blessings we would have not been able to return home,” Hossain said. Another crew Aminul Islam broke down as soon as he landed in the airport. “I never thought that I will be able to return to the country,” a tearful Islam said. He expressed his sincere gratitude to those who worked for bringing them back. Zakir Hossain spoke of the horror as a captive of the pirates. “One day the pirates tortured to death an Indian sailor before our eyes. Our ship was attacked by a navy ship of France,” he said. Hossain said the pirates demanded ransom from many people. Sailor Abul Kashem’s child said he saw his father after four long years. The fifth grader came to Dhaka from Comilla on Wednesday to receive his father along with his mother and grandfather. “Father broke down holding me as soon as he saw me,” Naimul Islam said. “How are you my dear? Can you recognise me? How did you do these days,” Abul Kashem told his son. The crewmen served on board the Malaysian ship, MV Albedo, which was commandeered by the pirates in November 2010. The ship sank on July 7 last year while under control of the pirates. The pirates then kept the sailors in another hijacked vessel Naham-3, the EU naval force said. After their release last Saturday following mediations by MPHRP, the seven sailors were taken to Nairobi, where the Bangladesh High Commission arranged for their travel documents and took care of them. They landed Dhaka airport on an Emirates Airlines flight. — bdnews24.com
