20 Pakistani fishermen arrested by Coast Guard

Gandhinagar, Nov 9 : Three Pakistani fishing boats with 20 fishermen were seized by the Coast Guard off the Kutch-Saurashtra coast, officials said Monday.

The three Pakistani boats were intercepted by a Coast Guard patrol vessel and seized after they were found to be fishing in Indian waters off Jhakhau on the Kutch coast, officials in Porbandar, 440 km from the state capital.

Brought to shore along with their craft, the fishermen have been placed under arrest.

Pakistan's Marine Security Agency Friday seized three Indian fishing boats along with 13 fishermen from near the international marine border off Jhakhau and took them to Pakistan. The three boats were identified as "Lakshmi Sarovar", "Vishwajit" and "Krushnaraj".

Last month, two Indian boats and 11 fishermen were similarly picked up by the Pakistani security agency and taken to Karachi.

According to Porbandar port association president Hiralal Sayal, there are almost 600 Indian fishermen languishing in Pakistani jails and 425 Indian boats have been seized.