Coast Guard apprehends 13 Myanmarese Poachers

Port Blair, Oct 24 (UNI) Indian Coast Guard today apprehended 13 Myanmarese poachers from Tuft Island, nearly 70 miles away from Port Blair, the capital town of Andamans.

"Out of thirteen, only five poachers have been brought by coast guard helicopter while rest of them will be brought by Coast Guard Ship Ganga Devi," Comandant Sunil Kumar, Commanding Officer of 745 squadron of Indian Coast Guard, said today.

The operation was launched yesterday by Indian Coast Guard with Andaman and Nicobar Command and local police after a tip off.

"Soon after receiving the information we sent our Coast Guard Ship Ganga Devi for a anti poaching operation and CG Chetak helicopter were pressed into service this morning," Commandant Kumar told UNI.

The Commanding officer added that rest of the poachers are expected to reach Port Blair by tomorrow morning and they would be handed over to Andaman and Nicobar Police thereafter.

The lush green islands of Andaman and Nicobar chain are often raided by poachers from South East Asian countries and very often they are apprehended by Coast Guard of Andaman and Nicobar Region.

"Two months back the same squadron had apprehended 12 Myanmarese poachers from the same inhabitant islands," Commadant Akshay Jain, Public Relation Officer of CG Andaman and Nicobar Region told UNI in Port Blair.

UNI SKR TJP RN1426