NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, JAN 17
Caught by Pakistani authorities in the high seas a year ago, a 50-year-old fisherman from Gujarat died in a jail there.
Quoting an official, the report said the cause of Jayanti Solanki’s death is “not known”. He was from Sutrapada village in Gujarat’s Gir-Somnath district.
Solanki died a few weeks ago, but local authorities were informed only on Sunday, the official said.
A team from the Gujarat fisheries department from Veraval has gone to the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab to receive the body, Fisheries Officer Vishal Gohel was quoted as saying.
“We expect that the body will be handed over to us by tonight,” Gohel said, adding that it will be brought back to Sutrapada and handed over to the family members.
The Indian High Commission in Pakistan informed the Government of India about Solanki’s death, after which it the Central government asked the Gujarat fisheries department to arrange for bringing back the body, the officer said.
According to the primary investigation, Solanki was from Vanakbara village in the Union Territory of Diu and Daman and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
The Pakistan Maritime Security Agency caught him near the International Maritime Boundary Line in the Arabian Sea last year from ‘Rasool Sagar’ boat, it said.
“Though Solanki was a native of Vanakbara, he was living with his family and in-laws at Sutrapada for the last many years. He was languishing in a Pakistani jail for the last one year following his apprehension. While he died a few weeks back, we received the information only yesterday (Sunday). The cause of his death is still not known to us,” Gohel was quoted as saying.
