The Bangladesh Coast Guard has detained 13 Indian nationals with a fishing trawler on charges of illegally intruding into Bangladeshi waters.
Shadhin Bangla, a patrol vessel of the coast guard, spotted the trawler, named Pita Matar Ashirbad-12, illegally fishing in Bangladeshi waters on Thursday.
Sensing the patrol’s presence, the intruders had tried to flee the area but the coast guards managed to detain the 13 fishermen along with their boat from 17 nautical miles northwest of Mongla Fairway Buoy.
The process of turning them over to Mongla police station was underway, said Lt Commander Amirul Haque, media officer at Bangladesh Coast Guard headquarters.
The agency had intensified round-the-clock patrols for drug control, conservation of forest resources, smuggling and protection of fishery resources, he added.