NE NEWS SERVICE
GANDHINAGAR, MAY 15
A total of 184 fishermen from Gujarat who were imprisoned in Pakistan jail returned to their home State on Monday after being released by Pakistan authorities on Thursday.
પાકિસ્તાનની જેલમાંથી મુક્ત થયેલા 184 ગુજરાતી માછીમારોનું વડોદરા ખાતે કૃષિ, પશુપાલન અને મત્સ્યોદ્યોગ વિભાગના મંત્રી શ્રી @RaghavjiPatel એ ભાવસભર સ્વાગત કર્યું.
ભારતીય જનતા પાર્ટીની ડબલ એન્જિન સરકાર સાગર ખેડૂઓની દરેક સમસ્યાને નિવારવા મક્કમ છે, પ્રતિબદ્ધ છે. pic.twitter.com/yh40N7FZHz
— BJP Gujarat (@BJP4Gujarat) May 15, 2023
State Agriculture Minister Raghavji Patel welcomed the first batch of fishermen at Vadodara Railway Station on Monday morning. They were sent to their respective native districts by buses. On arrival, the fishermen thanked Union and State governments for their efforts to free them.
- State Agriculture Minister Raghavji Patel welcomes the first batch of fishermen at Vadodara Railway Station on Monday morning
- The fishermen languished at Landi jail Karachi in Pakistan for the last four years
ગુજરાત સરકારના ઉક્ત પ્રયત્નોને પરિણામે માનનીય વડાપ્રધાન શ્રી @narendramodi જી અને કેન્દ્રીય વિદેશ મંત્રી શ્રી @DrSJaishankar જીએ પાકિસ્તાનની જેલમાં રહેલા ભારતીય માછીમારોને છોડાવવા માટેના કરેલ સાર્થક પ્રયાસો બાદ પાકિસ્તાનના સત્તાધિશો દ્વારા 198 ભારતીય માછીમારોને મુક્ત કરવામાં… pic.twitter.com/O3X98oftV5
— Raghavji Patel (मोदी का परिवार) (@RaghavjiPatel) May 15, 2023
These fishermen were caught by Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) nearly four years ago from the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) near Gujarat coast in the Arabian Sea, claiming they had crossed the notional border and entered Pakistani waters, the government said in a release.
The fishermen languished at Landi jail Karachi in Pakistan for the last four years. The first batch of 198 fishermen released by Pakistan on Thursday include 184 from Gujarat, three from Andhra Pradesh, four from Diu, five from Maharashtra, and two from Uttar Pradesh.
Out of the 184 fishermen from Gujarat, 152 are from Gir Somnath district, 22 from Devbhumi Dwarka, five from Porbandar and one each from Junagadh, Jamnagar, Kutch, Valsad and Navsari.
In March, the Gujarat government informed the legislative assembly that 560 fishermen from the state were languishing in Pakistani jails, with 274 of them having been apprehended in the previous two years.
The Gujarat government made representations in the past to the Centre to secure the release of these fishermen.
In all, Pakistan released 198 Indian fishermen last week.
The release added that local authorities had sent the fishermen to their respective destinations in four buses.
The fishermen, who were lodged in Pakistani jails, were released and handed over to Indian authorities at the Wagah border in Punjab on May 13, the release stated.
