Khulna: Brewing security worry following murders of two foreigners and killing attempt on a priest has put a dumper on the spirit of the overseas tourists to visit the Sundarbans.  

Many of the foreigners who were scheduled to visit the world’s largest mangrove forest in Bangladesh have already cancelled their bookings with different travel agencies.

Sources said about 40 foreign tourists, who were scheduled to visit the Sundarbans, have cancelled their bookings with a renowned tour company named Pugmark Tour and Travels.

Besides, five British nationals who work as volunteers of an NGO named Marzarin in Mongla have left the country following the incidents.  

Mongla police escorted them up to Jessore Airport.

Although the law enforcing agencies have taken enough security measures for the foreigners, working in different industrial units, contractor firms, factories and private-owned organisations in Mongla, the foreigners did not feel secure enough in the country’s present context.

However, police also asked the foreigners to inform their daily schedules to the law enforcers so they can take prompt actions in case of any need.

Nazrul Islam Bachchu, owner of Pugmark Tour and Travels, said the killings of two foreign nationals have affected the tourism sector in the Sundarbans badly.  

Sources at Riverrain Tour, a travel agency, said a 12-member group of Italian tourists, who are scheduled to visit the Sundarbans on 12 October, have cancelled their programme.

Golam Rahman Bitu, owner of Sundarbans Life Tour, a Mongla-based tour service provider, said two tourist teams--one from France and another from Australia-which were scheduled to come to the Sundarbans in November, have already cancelled their tour plan.

Mizanur Rahman, owner of Southern Tours, another tour operator, said frightened with the murders of the two foreign nationals, a team of tourists from the Netherlands who were scheduled to visit the area in December has cancelled their trip to the Sundarbans.

Meanwhile, the foreign sailors, who often visit the town after landing in Mongla port, have been advised to inform their daily whereabouts to the police.

Police also took additional security measures in Mongla EPZ area and a residential hotel in Mongla to ensure security for the foreigners.

Besides, the plainclothes police are also remaining watchful of the movement of the foreign nationals.

Sunil Kumar, a forest official of Khulna Circle, said they have not received any order regarding the security measures taken for the tourists in the Sundarbans.

Sheikh Lutfur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Mongla Police Station, said about a hundred foreign nationals are residing in the area. 

Work to prepare a list of the foreigners residing here is underway, added the OC.

Most of the foreigners here are Chinese, British, Pakistani and Japaneese nationals.

Of them, 38 work at Mongla EPZ, 30 at Chaina Harbor Dredger, 10 at a cement factory and two in different under-construction sites.

Besides, some 20-25 foreign nationals are living in Mongla port area for business purposes.  

Japanese national Hoshi Kunio, 66, was shot to death in Rangpur on 3 October while Italian citizen Cesare Tavella, 50, was gunned down by miscreants in Dhaka's Gulshan area on 28 September.

Meanwhile, a priest named Luke Sarkar, 52, came under an attack by some miscreants who tried to kill him by slitting throat in Ishwardi upazila of Pabna district on 5 October.