Piracy on the Brahmaputra
Our Correspondent, Gaibandha
Pirates on Monday looted cash and goods worth one and a half lakh taka from a merchant boat at Putimari here along the Brahmaputra basin. Seven persons were also injured. According to eye-witnesses, a merchant boat sailed for Gaibandha from Kartimari shoal in Kurigram district with different kinds of goods. When the boat reached Putimari in Gaibandha district, about 15 to 16 pirates equipped with deadly weapons on board another boat attacked it. The pirates fired blank shots creating panic among the passengers. They captured the merchant boat and beat up its inmates and looted cash and goods. Seven critically injured persons including the boatman were admitted to Gaibandha Sadar Hospital. Before fleeing the pirates snapped the fuel pipe of the merchant boat. A fisherman's boat pulled it to Syedpur Ghat.
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