Altogether 135 fishermen returned home in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district after spending more than a year in a jail in neighbouring Bangladesh, their union, Sundarban Saamudrik Matsyajibi Sramik Union, has said.

Due to strong currents in the Bay of Bengal, eight trawlers with these fishermen on board entered the Bangladeshi waters in June last year.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) intercepted them and handed them over to the local police at Mongla Port in Khulna, said Satinath Patra, the secretary of Sundarban Saamudrik Matsyajibi Sramik Union.

After coordinated efforts at different levels, including the Union Home Ministry, and with the cooperation of the Bangladeshi authorities, they were released on October 3, Patra said on Sunday.

They reached different ghats of Kakdwip last week.

“We are happy that they could come back to their families finally. These fishermen are residents of different villages in Kakdwip and Namkhana,” Patra said.

“Two more trawlers in which 30 fishermen were on board are still in Bangladesh. Efforts are on for their return,” he said.