Kendrapara: In a terrifying incident, a group of fish mafias allegedly opened fires at the Forest officials and freed a total of five trawlers with 60-70 fishermen at Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary in Pattamundai area of Kendrapara district.
Sudarshan Gopinath Yadav, DFO of Rajnagar Mangrove Forest and Wildlife Division, said, “A group of forest officials noticed six trawlers with around 80 fishermen illegally fishing at the prohibited Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary this morning. When the forest officials tried to detain them, they fired at the forest personnel and flee from the spot. However, the forest personnel managed to detain one of the trawlers along with the steersman.”
“We are taking the incident very seriously as such similar incident had happened in the past. We will report the matter to the police. Interrogation of the driver of trawler is underway to identify others. Stringent action will be taken against all the accused,” he added.
Earlier on on Friday, 10 fishermen were arrested and seized their fishing trawl was seized form the Sanctuary on charges of illegal fishing.
Notably, the Odisha government has imposed a seven-month fishing ban from November 1, 2024 to May 31, 2025, in the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, for the nesting of the Olive Ridley sea turtles.
