14 Pak fishermen released from Gujarat

VADODARA: Atleast 14 Pakistani fishermen, who were caught straying into Indian waters, have been released from Gujarat and are being taken to Wagah border at Atari for repatriating them to their country, official sources said here on Thursday.
    
Their release on Wednesday has taken place before the beginning of Indo-Pak talks in Islamabad next week.
    
"There were eight Pakistani fishermen in the jail at Bhuj in Kutch district that borders Pakistan. They were caught for straying into Indian waters some time back. All of them have been released and they are on their way back to Wagah border at Atari," Kutch DSP H K Patel said.
    
Jamnagar DSP Piyush Patel added that six Pakistani fishermen lodged in a jail in the city have also been freed and they are on their way to Wagah border.
    
With this, all the 14 fishermen from Pakistan have been released.
    
Meanwhile, President of the Indian Fishermen Association (IFA) Veljibhai Masani said that the Pakistani Government should also reciprocate by releasing all the 512 Indian fishermen from various parts of Gujarat, who have been kept in the Pakistani prisons for the past couple of years.
    
"These fishermen were illegally kidnapped by the Pakistani Marine Security Agency (PMSA) who were alleging that they had entered into the Pakistani water. They were later taken to Karachi few days back," Masani alleged, adding that the agency authorities were wrong in justifying their arrests.

The harassment of the Indian fishermen has increased and many fishermen who are lodged in Pakistani prisons, have been suffering from diseases, Masani stated.
    
"In the past, two Indian fishermen died in the jail due to some disease while another was flown to India from Pakistan last month due to ill health," added.
    
The association's President also demanded compensation for the families of these fishermen who died in the prison.
    
Though Pakistani authorities have been registering cases against the Indian fishermen after their arrests, they do not allow them to get legal counselling from the Indian High Commissioner's office located at Karachi and Islamabad, Masani alleged.