Pakistan apprehends 747 Gujarat fishermen in two years

Around 70 fishermen on board 13 boats were captured by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency near International Maritime Border Line in the Arabian Sea.

Gandhinagar, Mar 8: The Gujarat Government on Wednesday revealed on the floor of the assembly that as many as 747 Gujarat-based fishermen have been apprehended by Pakistani authorities during the last two years.

Replying to a question raised by BJP MLA from Bharuch Dushyant Patel during the Question Hour, Gujarat Fisheries Minister Babu Bokhiria informed the House that 747 fishermen from Gujarat were apprehended by the neighbouring country during the last two years (as on December 2016).

Bokhiria in his written reply stated that the state government has made 23 written representations to the Centre for the release of these fishermen, captured by Pakistan Maritime Security Agency near International Maritime Border Line in the Arabian Sea.

The minister also informed the members of the House that 858 fishermen were also released by Pakistan during last two years. Raising concern over the recent incidents of apprehension by PMSA, Congress MLA Punja Vansh gave a short call notice to seek reply from the government.

In his response, Bokhiria stated that as per the latest government records, PMSA has apprehended only 10 fishermen on board 2 boats on March 1. He also informed the House that state government is taking various steps to prevent such incidents in the high seas, such as awareness drives in coastal areas and financial assistance for fishermen to buy GPS devices and Distress Alert Transmitters.

PTI