KARACHI – The Pakistan Maritime Security Agency has arrested 55 Indian fishermen for fishing in the country’s territorial waters over the past few days.
The PMSA also seized nine Indian fishing boats during a four-day operation (between Wednesday and Saturday) in the Arabian Sea, a PMSA spokesman said on Sunday.
“The fishermen, after initial investigations, have been handed over to the Docks police,” he said.
The fishermen would now be produced before a judicial magistrate, according to the local police.
The news came amid the arrests of eight Pakistani fishermen held by India’s Border Security Force (BSF) in the last three days for fishing in the country’s territorial waters. Also, nine boats were seized by the Indian authorities.
Fishermen from Pakistan and India are frequently detained for illegally fishing in each other’s territorial waters since the Arabian Sea does not have a clearly defined marine border and the wooden boats, used by fishermen, lack the technology to prevent them from drifting away.
On October 29, the Pakistan government had released 68 Indian fishermen from Malir jail as a goodwill gesture.
Between December 2016 and January 2017, the Pakistani authorities had released a total of 438 Indian fishermen from the Landhi and Malir jails in Karachi.
