How Miraj Shaikh disappeared
On the night of April 10, 2026, multiple witnesses reportedly saw Coast Guard officials detain Miraj Shaikh, a fisherman, at Joymonir Ghol near the Sundarban forest in Mongla and take him away in a speedboat.
The next day, his family went to the Coast Guard office in Digraj, Mongla, where they were initially told that he was “on an operation” and would return in the afternoon. When he did so, the Coast Guard told him he had never been there.
On April 21, the owner of the tea shop where Shaikh was allegedly seized – and where his motorcycle was left – said that a man claiming to be a member of the Coast Guard came to the shop, unlocked the motorcycle and took it away. The tea stall owner said Coast Guard personnel returned it the next day.
“Witnesses described the circumstances and time of her disappearance and described how coast guard members took her away,” Mujahidul Islam Shaheen, a lawyer for the family, told Human Rights Watch.
Miraj’s family filed a complaint, held a press conference, and wrote to several government officials but with no results. On July 12, after his father filed a habeas corpus petition, the High Court ordered law enforcement agencies to find the missing fisherman and produce him before the court within 15 days.
Lieutenant Commander. Coast Guard’s Western Region Media Officer Mehboob Hussain has repeatedly denied Miraj’s detention and told the media that he had no information about her.