Tourism operators, forest officials and the Coast Guard have rejected reports published by several leading national and local media outlets claiming that there had been an attempted robbery on a tourist vessel in the Sundarbans.
They said that while it was true that forest guards had chased a group of suspected robbers on a waterway, the group had not attacked any tourist vessel.
One Forest Department official said he had been quoted despite not giving any statement to the media. Another official said he had spoken to only one news outlet, although his remarks later appeared in several media reports.
Tourism operators have expressed concern over such reports, saying that news of this kind at the beginning of the tourist season could alarm visitors.
Several media outlets reported that members of a forest robber gang approached the vessel “The Wave-2” in a motorised trawler around 9pm on Saturday while it was anchored near the sea mouth of the Katka canal.
The reports said fishermen at sea noticed the group and immediately informed the Forest Department by mobile phone. Forest guards then quickly set out in their boat, chased the suspected robbers and fired four rounds at them.
The Tour Operators Association of Sundarbans, or TOAS, however, said that according to the scheduled travel itinerary, the tourist vessels “The Wave-2” and “Aral Sea” were anchored in the Katka Sanctuary area of the eastern Sundarbans in Bagerhat at around 9pm on Saturday.
Tanvir Hasan Imran, forester at the Katka Sanctuary Centre under the Sharankhola Range of the Sundarbans, told TIMES, “My name was used and comments were attributed to me without anyone contacting me or taking any statement from me.”
Describing what had happened that night, he said a fisherman called him around 9pm and reported that fishermen farther out towards the sea from Katka had chased a suspected gang of robbers.
He immediately set out with his team in an armed trawler.
After travelling about one and a half to two kilometres, they spotted the trawler carrying the suspected robbers from a distance.
“We signalled the trawler with lights to stop. But as soon as they saw us, they sped away in the opposite direction towards the sea. We then fired four blank rounds and chased them for about five kilometres, but we were unable to catch them,” Tanvir Hasan said.
He said he informed his senior officials as well as the Coast Guard about the matter.
“Later, I saw news reports saying there had been an attempted robbery on a tourist vessel at Katka,” he said.
Md Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, divisional forest officer of the Sundarbans East Forest division in Bagerhat, also said the incident at Katka was not an attempted robbery on any vessel.
“There was information about a gang of robbers. Our Katka camp then chased them. The incident has been exaggerated,” he said.
He also said that, apart from one newspaper, no other media outlet had spoken to him, yet his comments were reproduced by others.
Lieutenant Commander Mahbub Hossain, media officer of the Coast Guard’s West Zone, said, “After hearing about such an incident, our patrol team immediately went to the vessel. But we found no evidence of any robbery. None of those aboard MV Wave-2 said that a robbery had taken place.”
SRB-6, formerly RAB, said it had learned of the alleged robbery attempt from media reports. It added that no complaint had been lodged with them.
The Tour Operators Association of Sundarbans, or TOAS, expressed shock over the reports.
At a press conference, the association said such baseless reports at the beginning of the tourist season could have a negative impact on the tourism industry.
Mazharul Islam Kochi, senior vice-president of TOAS and owner of Evergreen Tours, told TIMES, “Journalists should verify information, speak to all sides and then present the facts. It should not happen that someone says nothing, yet comments are published in that person’s name. Objective reporting will help the tourism industry develop further.”
