BANGLADESH   7/12/2010

During attacks on fishermen in the coastal areas off Patuakhali and Barguna Districts, a total of 77 fishermen were kidnapped. The pirates, reportedly members of three criminal groups working together, have demanded Taka one lakh (100,000 rupees) in ransom for release of each kidnapped fisherman but the victims' families are too poor to meet the demand. During the attacks the pirates looted the fish, cash, fuel and equipment from 50 trawlers that were fishing about 40 km/25 miles south of Kuakata in Patuakhali. Two fishermen were shot and wounded by the pirates and one is missing. Pirates also looted 30 other trawlers from Pathorghata, Barguna District, and kidnapped at least 27 fishermen. The fishermen’s families and officials of a local traders’ association have called on Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies and the navy to end the piracy and terminate the extortion gangs operating in the Bay of Bengal, the heart of the local fishing industry. (thedailystar.net, 12 July 2010)

YEMEN   7/12/2010

Three unidentified gunmen kidnapped a Yemeni freelance journalist specializing in reporting on al Qaida outside a Chinese restaurant in Sana’a. The kidnappers forced him into a vehicle at gunpoint and then sped off. Yemen’s Journalist Syndicate said the kidnappers might be tribesmen angered by the journalist’s reports on the relationship of some tribes with the Yemeni wing of al Qaida. (khaleejtimes.com, 12 July 2010)

BRAZIL   7/11/2010

A six-year-old girl, the daughter of a candy store owner, who was kidnapped on July 9, was abandoned by her kidnappers in Sapopemba, in the eastern zone of São Paulo, close to a slum quarter. The girl was abducted as she played on the sidewalk in front of her mother’s shop located on Barreira Grande Avenue. It is unclear if ransom was paid for the girl’s release. (oglobo.globo.com, 11 July 2010)

INDIA   7/11/2010

Mumbai Police arrested six people suspected in the July 7 kidnapping for ransom of a 10-year-old boy in the city’s Kandivli suburb. The suspects forced the boy into a vehicle while he was walking home from school and took him to an abounded building in the area where he was confined in one of the rooms. Hours after the abduction, the kidnappers called the boy’s father, a fish merchant who provides fish to several five-star hotels in the city, demanding Rs 1 crore in ransom. The father contacted the police who launched a massive search operation. When the suspects realized that the police were on their trail, they gave the child money, put him on a Borivli-bound bus and fled. The kidnapping was hatched by the boy’s father’s former chauffeur who wanted revenge for his firing a few years ago. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 11 July 2010)

NIGERIA   7/11/2010

Unknown gunmen in eastern Nigeria kidnapped three local journalists and demanded N 250 million in ransom to secure their release. The three - the chairperson of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Lagos, the union's assistant secretary and a regional secretary of the union - were kidnapped at gunpoint around Aba, Abia State, as they were returning from a national executive meeting of the union in Uyo, the capital of neighboring Akwa Ibom State. An Abia Police spokesperson confirmed the abduction and stated that the incident was under investigation. (iol.co.za, 11 July 2010)