AMN /
Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) has apprehended 18 Indian fishermen along with their three boats off Gujarat coast. Secretary of National Fishworkers’ Forum (NFF) Manish Lodhari told PTI that the fishermen from Gujarat were captured near Jakhau port yesterday. He said, PMSA apprehended them when the fishermen from Okha and Porbandar towns were sailing to catch fish.
In another incident in an early morning action near the coast of Thalaimannar, Sri Lankan Navy today detained an Indian fishing vessel and arrested 5 fishermen on charges of violating the international maritime boundary line and poaching in Sri Lankan waters. According to a senior official in the Indian Consulate General in Jaffna, the fishermen have been brought to the Navy camp and will be handed over to the Sri Lankan Fisheries Department officials who will produce them before the local magistrate later in the day for further legal action.
Meanwhile, the process to ensure the release of 120 Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan custody and Sri Lankan fishermen in Indian custody continues. The officials of the two countries are working out the modalities for simultaneous release of the fishermen before Deepavali.