12 Indian fishermen apprehended by Pakistan Maritime Agency

A dozen Indian fishermen were apprehended and their four boats seized by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) from near the Indo-Pak maritime border in the Arabian Sea off Jhakhau coast in Kutch district of Gujarat.

The incident took place yesterday when the fishermen were fishing in Indian waters near the International Maritime Border in Arabian Sea, National Fishermen Forum (NFF) secretary Manish Lodhari said today.

Initially the Pakistan agency had apprehended 26 fishermen with five boats but later released one boat and 14 fishermen comprising mainly old and juvenile persons, he said.

They took along with them four boats Neeldeep, Badrinath, Shree Annapurna and Jay Shree Krishna, and 12 fishermen to Karachi in Pakistan.

Two days ago an Indian fisherman was injured in firing by the PMSA, while he was fishing along with other fishermen near the Indo-Pak maritime border in Arabian sea off Jhakau coast in Kutch.

Earlier in the month, the Pakistani agency had caught 21 Indian fishermen and seized six boats.

Also, last month, 51 fishermen and 12 boats were seized by the PMSA from near the Indo-Pak maritime border in three different incidents, Porbander Boat Association (PBA) president Hiralal Siyar said.

According to Siyar, last year PMSA had seized 56 Indian boats from the Arabian sea and apprehended 263 Indian fishermen.