Bangladesh Coast Guard detained 519 Indian fishermen along with 32 fishing trawlers in the coastal areas of Patuakhali for illegally intruding into Bangladesh.
A patrol team of coast guard detained the fishermen in Moudubi area of Rangabali upazila’s Ramnabad channel near the Bay of Bengal around 1:30pm, Md Monibur Rahman, Kalapara upazila nirbahi officer (UNO), told media persons.
The fishermen claimed that they accidentally entered Bangladesh due to the stormy weather.
They were being taken to Kalapara upazila coast guard outpost from Rangabali, the UNO added.
Further interrogation and legal steps will be conducted, he said.
Bangladesh has asked its coast guards to aggressively defend fishing grounds in its coastal regions on view of a sharp drop in local fishing output.