The Bangladesh Coast Guard rescued five fishermen being held for ransom by a pirate gang in the Sundarbans after an exchange of fire near Kinchir Khal on the Arpangashia River in Shyamnagar, Satkhira, The Business Standard reported on 27 October 2026.
Coast Guard media officer Lieutenant Commander Sabbir Alam Sujon said personnel from the Koyra and Dobeki stations launched an operation around midnight on intelligence, and that the gang opened fire on seeing the patrol. The pirates fled into the forest, leaving the hostages behind; no arrests were made. A search recovered a single-barrel gun, six spent cartridges and three locally made sharp weapons.
All five fishermen survived and were to be handed to their families. Sujon said two operations — Operation Restore Peace in Sundarbans and Operation Mangrove Shield — are aimed at dismantling active pirate gangs.
Event date: 27 October 2026
Sources: This report summarises the following original reporting. Facts and quotations are attributed to these sources.
- The Business Standard, Coast Guard rescues 5 fishermen after gunfight with Sundarbans pirates (27 October 2026)
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File photo: a Bangladesh Coast Guard jetty in Patuakhali. Photo: Shadman Samee from Dhaka, Bangladesh / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
This article is a summary prepared by Maritime News BD from the report(s) listed above; it was not independently reported by Maritime News BD.
