Forty-three Indian fishermen have been arrested, and seven of their boats seized by Pakistani authorities for allegedly fishing illegally in the country's territorial waters in the Arabian Sea, officials said on 15 December.
The fishermen were arrested on Thursday, 14 December, and have been handed over to the Docks police, a spokesman for Pakistan's Maritime Security Force (PMSF) said.
The Docks police will now present them before a judicial magistrate, who will most likely send them in judicial remand to jail.Wajid Nawaz Chaudhary, Commander (PMSF)
The PMSF has arrested 144 Indian fishermen over the last one month for alleged illegal fishing in Pakistani waters.
With the latest apprehensions, the number of such arrests of Indian fishermen in 2017 has gone up to over 400.
The PMSF spokesman said the Indian fishermen were arrested as the Pakistan maritime security forces were conducting exercises near Pakistan's Maritime border in the Arabian Sea.
Speedboats and helicopters were used in the exercise when the Indian fishermen were spotted in our watersWajid Nawaz Chaudhary, Commander (PMSF)
Meanwhile, secretary of the Porbandar-based National Fishworkers' Forum (NFF) Manish Lodhari said that fishermen, who were from different parts of Gujarat, had sailed off the coastal town of Porbandar a few days ago.
He said they were apprehended by the PMSF near Jakhau coast and then taken to Karachi port.
Fishermen from Pakistan and India are frequently detained for illegally fishing in each other’s territorial waters since the Arabian Sea does not have a clearly defined marine border, and the wooden boats lack the technology to avoid drifting away.
Pakistani fishermen, mostly belonging to the Sindh province, are being apprehended by the Border Security Force (BSF) and Indian Coast Guard (ICG) for illegally fishing in the creek area along the Indo-Pak border in Kutch district in Gujarat.
In November, both the BSF and the ICG had apprehended 23 Pakistani fishermen and seized 11 of their boats from creek area, while the PMSF had apprehended a total of 101 Indian fishermen and seized 15 their boats for allegedly entering into Pakistani waters.
On 10 November, the PMSF arrested 55 Indian fishermen and seized nine fishing boats, while on 12 November four boats were seized and 23 Indian fishermen arrested for allegedly entering into Pakistani waters.
Choudhary said on 16 November also the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) had arrested a batch of 23 Indian fishermen and seized four Indian boats.
In October, the PMSA had arrested two batches of 50 Indian fishermen.
On 29 October, the Pakistan government had released 68 Indian fishermen from Malir jail as a goodwill gesture.
A total of 438 Indian fishermen were released in 12 days time in December 2016-January 2017 by Pakistani authorities from the Landhi and Malir jails in Karachi.
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