Pakistan repatriates 115 Indian fishermen

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

Wagah, Jan 10 (UNI) Pakistan today set free 115 Indian fishermen who had completed their prison term ranging from two to five years.

The fishermen were handed over to the Indian officials by the Pakistan authorities at this joint border checkpost tonight.

The repatriation of the fishermen was delayed as they reached the checkpost from Karachi late in the evening. Normally after the daily Retreat Ceremony the gates on the Radcliffe Line dividing the two countries are shut, but both the Border Security Force (BSF) and their counterparts, the Pakistan Rangers met after the ceremony and decided to go ahead with the repatriation even as darkness decended along the border.

Senior BSF officers immediately rushed to the checkpost from their headquarters at Khasa near Amritsar to oversee the repatriation exercise. Civil officials of the Punjab government and a contingent of the Gujarat police also reached here to night.

The released fishermen, a majority of them from Gujarat were those who had been arrested by the Pakistani coast guard while fishing in Pak-waters off the coast of Rann of Kutch. They were tried, sentenced and lodged at the jail in Karachi.

The freed fishermen were later transported to Amritsar in police vehicles. They will be medically examined at Amritsar and would be then sent home by train under the supervision of the Gujarat police that had reached Amritsar yesterday.

The Pakistan government had repatriated 70 Indian civil prisoners including a few fishermen last month.

UNI

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X