26/11 attack: Kin of 3 fishermen get compensation after 12 yrs

Navsari: Twelve years after five fishermen were presumed to have been killed by Pakistani terrorists before they carried out the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, the Gujarat government has given Rs 5 lakh each as compensation to families of three fishermen, an official said on Tuesday.

The families of two other fishermen, including their captain Amarsinh Solanki, who were onboard ”Kuber” fishing trawler which was occupied in the sea by the terrorists, had been given compensation by different authorities in the past.

The kin of the other three fishermen, Natu Rathod, Mukesh Rathod and Balwant Tandel, belonging Vansi village in Jalalpore taluka of Gujarat”s Navsari district, were waiting for the monetary benefit.

The compensation of Rs 5 lakh each was last week given to the family members of the three fishermen in the form of fixed deposits.

On Friday, documents pertaining to the fixed deposits were handed over to family members of these deceased fishermen, Navsari district disaster management branch”s mamlatdar (revenue officer) Roshni Patel said.

“As per government norms, the families of these three fishermen were given a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each in the form of fixed deposits, having a lock-in period of three years,” Patel said.

In February 2017, a civil court in Navsari declared these three fishermen dead.

Their family members had earlier approached the court for compensation, which was not possible till the state government declared them as dead.

Out of the five fishermen who were on the trawler, four were from Gujarat, while their captain Amarsinh Solanki, was a native of the Union Territory of Diu.

Solanki”s body was found in the boat on the shores of Mumbai, while bodies of the other four were never found.

Solanki”s family members have already been provided compensation by the Maharashtra government, as the boat was found near Mumbai. His son was given a job in the police department by the Union Territory administration.

Besides, the Gujarat government in November 2019 gave a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the wife of fisherman Ramesh Bambhania, a native of Simasi village in Gir-Somnath district, who was among the four whose bodies were not found.

The Kuber trawler with five fishermen onboard had set sail three to four days before the Mumbai terror attack in November 2008. The boat was forcefully occupied in high seas by Pakistani terrorists.

Solanki”s body was found on the boat by security agencies when they seized the vessel off the Mumbai coast after the attack.

It is believed that he was kept alive by the terrorists to guide them to Mumbai.