Teknaf, Bangladesh: Burma’s border security force, Nasaka, opened fire on a Bangladeshi fishing boat near St. Martin’s Island yesterday, injuring five Bangladeshi fishermen, Hussain, the fishing boat owner from Shapuri Dip said.

A section of Nasaka personnel from Nasaka Sector number 8, were patrolling in the Bay of Bengal, when they saw a Bangladeshi fishing boat fishing near Burmese territorial waters yesterday morning. The Nasaka sent them a signal to stop, but the fishing boat did not do so. The Nasaka, then opened fire on the boat, injuring five crew members, including the person who was steering, Safi, the crew said.

“When the Nasaka reached our boat, they told us to jump into the water, at gun point. When we didn’t, the Nasaka beat us and pushed us down into the water and took our boat with our fishes and all our fishing material,” he added.

“We were fishing on our side, not on the Burmese side,” he said.

According to Nur Alam, the head of another fishing boat, “We rescued 13 crew members, who were drifting in the water while we were returning home.”

The injured fishermen were sent to Teknaf Hospital for treatment and the concerned authorities of Bangladesh were informed.

The man, who was steering, is critically injured and the Teknaf Hospital has referred him to Chittagong Medical Hospital for further treatment, an official from Teknaf said.

The injured people have been identified as, Shafi (39), Abdul Razak (34), Nurul Alam (35) and Abul Fayas (38).