Dhaka, April 15, (dpa/GNA) – Bangladeshi police have arrested six of nine people, rescued after a shipwreck involving Rohingya refugees left around 250 people missing in the Andaman Sea, authorities said on Wednesday.
The six were taken into custody over alleged involvement in human trafficking, police officer Saiful Islam told dpa by phone.
“We are also trying to find the local network responsible for luring people into risky voyages abroad by sea,” he said, adding that all six arrested are Bangladeshi nationals.
The three other survivors, Rohingya men, were returned to refugee camps, he said.
The nine survivors were found drifting on April 9 in the Andaman Sea by the crew of the Bangladeshi-flagged vessel MT Meghna Pride, amid severe weather. They were handed over to the coastguard and taken to Cox’s Bazar, the coastal district from which they had departed.
Authorities believe the group had been aboard a small, engine-powered boat carrying more than 250 passengers that sank en route to Malaysia.
The trawler had departed from Teknaf in southern Bangladesh, and sank due to heavy winds, high waves and overcrowding, UN agencies said.
GNA