Kaladan News
Date; Thursday, July 29, 2004
Bangladesh Police Seized a Cargo Boat of Fertilizer En-route to Burma
Cox’s Bazar, July 29: Bangladesh
police seized a cargo boat carrying fertilizer that en-route to Burma
on 24th July 2004,
according to a reporter of Kaladan Press named Sayed Noor.
The cargo boat was captured at Bay of Bengal nearby Barkali
River mouth while it was its way to Burma from Islampur
Jetty of Cox’s Bazar .The boat was traversing at
midnight towards Burma with 7 crewmen and it carried about 22,000 bags of
fertilizer worth Tk. 5 million including cargo boat,
he further added quoting from a local newspaper.
Since the Burma
government production of fertilizer has not been able to cover the domestic
demands, the sea-smuggling trade of fertilizer from Bangladesh
is blooming.
According to police of Cox’s Bazar, last Friday on 23rd July 2004, three
cargo boats with fertilizer, were being smuggled to Burma
from Islampur gate of Cox’s Bazar.
One of them was stranded on a sandbank of Nazir
Tek in the Bay of Bengal
while two others safely went to Akyab (Sitwee), Arakan
State of Burma.
On July 24, 2004, after
being informed, at about 10:00 am, a
team of Cox’s Bazar police led by police Super Sayed Tofique Uddin
Ahmed seized the cargo where it was stranded. In the meantime, the police also
arrested an owner of the cargo boat named Moktar son
of Momtaz Meah, police
further said.
According to the local people of Cox’s Bazar, there
are two smuggling groups; Rashid Kolo leads one and
the other one is led by Monzor alias Hakim Ali. They
have been carrying fertilizer from Chittagong
to Cox’s Bazar by trucks buying from many factories
and were being smuggled to Burma.
According to The Daily Ajker Desh
Bidesh, from the Islampur Gate
of Cox’s Bazar, at least worth Tk.100 crore of fertilizer and other things have been smuggled to Burma
per year by a syndicate of smugglers.
Everyday, between 1000 to 2000 Tons of chemical fertilizer are being smuggled
into Burma from various points of Bangladesh while on their return trip, they
carry table salt, liqueur, clothes and other things, the paper further added.
Bangladesh
government is trying to bring to an end the smuggling of fertilizer to Burma
by arresting the smugglers and confiscating the cargo boats or trawlers, since
the local farmers asked to the government to stop the smuggling of fertilizer.
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