Pak apprehends 65 fishermen, 12 boats off Gujarat coast

Ahmedabad, October 3

The Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) today apprehended 65 fishermen along with their 12 boats off the Gujarat coast, officials of the National Fishworkers Forum (NFF) said.

This is the biggest and the fourth major incident of apprehending Indian fishermen by the PMSA since January this year.

“PMSA personnel have apprehended 65 fishermen and their 12 boats off the Gujarat coast,” said Manish Lodhari, secretary, NFF.

“The fishermen from Okha and Porbandar sailed off the coast of Gujarat 4-5 days ago and today they were held captive,” Lodhari said. He said 11 boats were from Porbandar and one was from Okha.

The NFF official said he got to know about the incident from the fishermen who were in contact with him through a wireless phone set.

“All those 65 fishermen are still in the middle of the Arabian Sea and surrounded by PMSA personnel when one of the sailors informed me about the incident,” Lodhari said.

In April this year, the PMSA had apprehended 47 fishermen along with their eight boats from Gujarat. — PTI