Three fishermen from Sujanpur village in Fatehpur district were caught by Pakistani authorities near international maritime boundary line (IMBL) off Gujarat coast last week. The main source of livelihood of villagers in Sujanpur is fishing in coastal areas of the country like Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. They stay there for eight to nine months in a year. During monsoon, they return to the village. They borrow money from local money lenders for the journey. Devrati, mother of Jitendra, whose marriage was fixed for July 13, had borrowed money two months when he had gone for work. The matter came to light on Wednesday, when village head Hemlata Patel received a phone call from a Gujarat-based contractor, who had hired the three. They had given the mobile phone number of the village head to the contractor to be used in case of emergency. “The contractor had called me up on Wednesday and informed that Pak authorities had arrested Dhaniram (31), Pramod Raidas (29) and Jitendra Raidas (21), all belonging to Sujanpur. The three had gone to Porbandar Okha and catching fish near IMBL off Gujarat coast, when they were arrested by Pak authorities last week,” Patel said while talking to TOI. Their relatives have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and local political representatives to get the fishermen released. Fatehpur district BJP chief Dinesh Bajpai said: “The Pakistani authorities treat our countrymen like criminals. We demand immediate release of three fishermen detained there.” “We have urge the Prime Minister and external affairs minister to intervene into the matter and secure early release of three on humanitarian grounds. Jitendra is to get married on July 13,” he added.
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