It was the first operation since a separate police camp was set up at Dublarchar on December 1 to assist coastguards in containing piracy and enslaved labour.

The rescued hailed from Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Pirojpur and Barisal districts. They were identified as Rafiqul, 24, Noor Mohammad, 20, Mofizul, 24, Jamal, 30, Kalam, 24, Rezaul, 12, Mahmudul, 14, Ismail, 14, Abdun Noor, 13, Idris, 14, Mansoor, 20, Sarwar, 17, Akhter, 18, Zubair, 9, Jahangir, 13, Mohosin, 9 and Alam, 20.

They were working for nine dry fish farms, where they were not allowed minimum facilities and wage. The employers forced them to continue the job in subhuman conditions making it impossible for them to escape, police said.

SI Mominur Rahman of the 50-member Dublarchar Police Camp led the operation.

Including these 17, as many as 161 children and youths were rescued in last one month from Dublarchar, mainly a fishermen's village adjacent to the Bay of Bengal.