Indian fishermen arrested for fishing in Pakistani waters sit inside a police station in Karachi. PHOTO: AFP
An official of the docks police station reported that on Saturday evening that Maritime Security Agency personnel handed over 48 Indian fishermen and eight fishing boats. “They were fishing inside Pakistan’s maritime border,” he informed.
He further said that on Monday they would be presented to the court and are later expected to head to jail. He said that the fishermen were aged between 22 and 30 years and nothing illegal had been recovered from their possession. “We register the case against them only for the violation of Pakistan water territory,” he added.
Such arrests are frequently carried out by both countries, as the maritime border in the Arabian Sea is poorly defined and many fishing boats lack the technology needed to be certain of their precise location.
According to some reports, some 428 Indian inmates are in custody before the fresh arrests on Saturday. This is after Pakistan released 172 Indian fishermen in February.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 19th, 2015.
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