Pak apprehends 30 Guj fishermen, seizes 6 boats

Ahmedabad: At least 30 Gujarat fishermen were apprehended early Monday by Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) near the international maritime boundary in the Arabian Sea, a Porbandar-based National Fishworkers’ Forum (NFF) official said.

NFF secretary Manish Lodhari said the PMSA also seized six fishing boats. “Thirty fishermen on board six boats were apprehended by PMSA near IMBL early today morning alleging that our fishermen had ventured into the Pakistan side during fishing,” Lodhari said.

“They will now be taken to Karachi port. All these boats had ventured into sea a few days ago from Porbandar harbour” he added.

He claimed Pakistani agencies were capturing Indian fishermen at regular intervals near the IMBL.

The development comes close on heels of Pakistan’s “goodwill gesture” of releasing 100 Indian fishermen, mostly from Gujarat, just last month.