Narinjara news

Two hundred shrimp farms in Teknaf - under threat of Rohingya armed terrorists

Chittagong, 25 June: More than two hundred shrimp farms on the Teknaf Ukhia border on Bangladesh side are in the grip of armed robbers. Though their legal title-holders own the farms by day, they go under the undeclared ownership of the armed goons at night, reports Tofael Ahmed in the Janakantha (25 Jun. 02), Dhaka.

The shrimp farm owners are held hostage to the gang of robbers in the border area. Almost every night there are rampant incidences of robbery being committed upon shrimp farms. A vested quarter in the border for long has been utilizing the Rohingya armed infiltrators for realizing their benefits.

According to the residents in the border area, there are more than two hundred shrimp farms between Palongkhali Union of Ukhia Upazila and Teknaf on the Bangladesh side of the Naaf River. Very high quality shrimps are produced in these farms due to the environmental advantage of the Naaf. Because of the utilization of naturally bred shrimp fries, the rate of the death rate of shrimp fries is also satisfactory. But due to the rise of temperature a lot of shrimp fries died this year due to increased salinity of the water.

The higher temperature caused spread of shrimp viruses, which coupled with increased temperature already caused a big loss to the shrimp farm owners. The armed terrorists are now robbing whatever has been left in the farms. Every night the robbers come to the farms. Though there are guards in the farms, due to the threat of the armed groups they also do not stay in many of the shrimp farms. After sunset Rohingya infiltrator terrorists come from the other side of the river by boats. The already infiltrated Rohingyas here in combination with local robbers get to rob the farms of shrimps.

On the other side of the Naaf River (on Burmese side) there are also a great number of shrimp farms. A large number of Bangladeshi smugglers and shrimp farmers have also invested in collusion with the Burmese Nasaka forces in those farms. The shrimp on the other side of the border is also brought in large quantities clandestinely to this side. The Rohingya terrorists often rob the shrimps from this side and take them to the other side and then bring them back to this side under the guise of their own produce.

For which reason the origin of the booty can never be traced. The owners of the shrimp farms in the border have become disenchanted with growing shrimps because of the incessant robbery so committed. The price of exportable shrimp has gone up in the market at present. With this the incidents of robbery have also gone up. The owners cannot cope up with the terrorists who are armed to the teeth in modern gear. And they are also deprived of the necessary assistance from the local law and order authority, too. #