Fishing boat attacked and looted at sea off Kaup Light House

Kaup: A fisherman crew on a fishing boat from Mangaluru was allegedly stopped and looted by a crew of another boat off the coast near Kaup Light House.

The crew of the Mirash-2 trawlboat belonging to Muhammad Mustafa Basha alleged that the incident took place 10 Nautical miles from Kapu Light House on January 30 at 5 am when they were returning from a fishing expedition.

The crew were identified as Parvathaiah, Kondaiah, Raghu Ramaiah, Shivraj, K Sheenu, Yedumale, Chinnodu, and Raju, all from Andhra Pradesh.

According to the complaint registered by Basha with Kaup Police, 7-8 individuals from the Purse Sein boat named ‘Hanuma Jyoti’, boarded the trawl boat and looted fish boxes. When fishermen Sheenu and Raghu Ramaiah attempted to intervene, they were assaulted and kept hostage on another boat.

The complaint alleged that assailants also attacked the remaining fishermen on the trawl boat, with fists and a piece of wood. Sheenu and Raghu Ramaiah were allegedly brought back to the trawl boat a while later.  The assailants extorted for 4 mobile phones and stole 12 boxes of fish worth Rs 2 lakh.

Further, Parvathaiah, Kondaiah, Raghu Ramaiah, Shivraj, and Sheenu sustained injuries from the attack. The complaint asserted that the crew was able to glean the name of the attackers’ boat.

The Kapu police have registered a case and are investigating.