Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) personnel abducted 24 more Gujarat fishermen and also seized their four boats from International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) off Kutch coast on Saturday. This was a repeat of last Thursday night’s incident when PMSA personnel in total contempt of maritime laws abducted 17 Indian fishermen and seized their three boats from Indian waters.
Gujarat Fishermen Association sources said PMSA personnel crossed over into the Indian waters in their boat and abducted the 24 fishermen and also towed away their four boats. Of these four boats, three were from Porbandar and one was from the Union territory of Diu.
Earlier in February, PMSA personnel had abducted 30 fishermen and also seized their five boats from the Indian waters. All the five boats were from Porbandar town and the fishermen belonged to different towns of coastal Saurashtra.
Last year, the PMSA personnel had shot dead a fisherman from Gujarat and abducted 30 fishermen from IMBL. The deceased fisherman Naran Sosa was a resident of Sarkhadi village in Kodinar taluka of Gir-Somnath district.
Pakistan also had abducted 40 fishermen in October 2013 after crossing the IMBL. Frequent abduction of fishermen by PMSA has become a major cause of concern for the Indian fishermen, particularly those belonging to Gujarat. Sources said some 450 Indian fishermen were lodged in Pakistani jails, with 270 having being abducted since September 2013 alone. Their boats, too, are in the custody of PMSA.
2012 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.