Pakistan abducts 55 Gujarat fishermen with 10 boatswith 10 boats

Nearly a week after Pakistan released 86 Gujarat fishermen from jail there, the Pakistan Marine Security Agency (PMSA) abducted 55 fishermen and seized their 10 boats off Gujarat coast on Wednesday morning.

According to fishermen, out of the 10 boats abducted by Pakistan agency, five boats belong to fishing firm Mori Fishing based in Okha. The firm is owned by Manoj Mori.

“Pakistan security agency abducted 55 Gujarat fishermen with their 10 boats on Wednesday early morning when they were fishing near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) in the Arabian Sea,” Manish Lodhari, secretary of National Fish workers’ Forum (NFF), told TOI.

The abducted boats were from Mangrol and Okha region, he said, adding that the fishermen were from different parts of coastal Saurashtra and south Gujarat.

Earlier, on February 25, PMSA had abducted 12 fishermen with their two boats. According to fishermen body over 350 fishermen are lodged in Pakistani jails. In last three months, PMSA has abducted 407 fishermen and seized 71 boats from the sea.

On September 18 last year, one fisherman was killed in firing allegedly by PMSA near the IMBL before the Pakistan agency abducted 24 fishermen.

Recently, a fishermen’s organization from Porbandar had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked him to initiate efforts to bring back jailed Indian fishermen and their boats from Pakistan.

Moreover, Rajya Sabha MP Chuni Gohel has urged external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to bring back bodies of two fishermen from Pakistan who died in jail there. He has also urged her to bring back another fisherman who is now unconscious in a Pakistan hospital.