3 detained over reported robbery at commercial ship anchored at Mongla Port

Coast Guard officials have detained three people for allegedly looting the equipment of a commercial ship named MV Shejuti, which was anchored at the channel of Mongla Seaport due to a technical glitch.

During a drive, the Coast Guard officials also recovered a portion of the looted equipment, Operations Officer of Coast Guard West (Mongla Zone) Lt Commander Abrar Hasan confirmed to The Business Standard.

The detainees were identified as chief engineer of the ship Md Sirajul Haque, Suman Hawlader (21) and the alleged buyer of the equipment Md Suman Hossain (30).

According to the Coast Guard, there are various types of spare parts, bearings of different sizes of the ship's engine, battery and its charger and other valuable equipment of the ship which had been looted.

Lt Commander Abrar Hasan said, "Most of the crew of the ship were not getting their salaries properly for the last six to seven months, which gave birth to animosity among the crew against their employer."

"Equipment of the ship had been sold to various groups and robbers in the past. The chief engineer of the ship planned to sell the equipment of the ship in partnership with a local buyer and misappropriate the money through staging a robbery," Commander Abrar said.

Abrar added, "The process to hand over the looted equipment to the ship authority is currently underway. Also, the process to hand over the detainees to the police station is ongoing."

"However, there is a need for an investigation into the involvement of the ship officials with this robbery. There should be an investigation to find out why the ship authority is not paying its employees for the last six to seven months and why they have left the ship at the sea unattended," Abrar added.