Bangladesh Navy detained 273 people, including 10 suspected members of a human trafficking syndicate, during an operation to stop an illegal overseas journey in the Bay of Bengal on Saturday night.

According to an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) release issued on Sunday, naval ship BNS Swadhinata detected suspicious activity involving a wooden boat approximately 30 nautical miles southwest of St Martin’s Island, acting on a tip-off.

When the naval vessel signalled the boat to halt, it attempted to flee by increasing speed. The Navy immediately pursued and intercepted the vessel.

Following the interception, 273 individuals, including 10 suspected traffickers, were detained and the boat was seized.

Based on information obtained from the detainees, they had begun the journey with the assistance of human traffickers in an attempt to illegally travel to Malaysia.

The Navy handed over the seized boat along with the detainees to Teknaf Police Station for further legal proceedings.

The ISPR release noted that the journey had been undertaken without minimum life-saving equipment, sufficient food, drinking water or proper safety measures, posing a serious risk of a humanitarian disaster in the deep sea.