Pakistan and India regularly arrest each others’ fishermen for violating the maritime boundary which is poorly marked at some points.

Karachi/Ahmedabad: Eight Indian fishermen were released by the Pakistan government on Thursday, almost three years they were captured by the Pakistani authorities after being accused of venturing into the country’s water while fishing.

The Indian fishermen, who were lodged in the Malir Jail in Pakistan’s Karachi, were released by Islamabad under the country’s ongoing drive to expel illegal foreign immigrants and nationals from the country.

The fishermen, who belong to different parts of Gujarat will be brought to their home state tomorrow and a Gujarat government team has reached Punjab to receive them at the Attari-Wagah border.

They will be handed over to the state fisheries department team at the Attari-Wagah border on Friday afternoon, Gujarat Commissioner of Fisheries Nitin Sangwan had said earlier.

“They belong to different parts of Gujarat. We will bring them to the state by train,” Sangwan informed.

“These 80 fishermen were caught by Pakistani authorities nearly three years back after accusing them of fishing in waters of that country. They had set sail from Gujarat coast at regular intervals in 2020. As per our records, there are 173 Indian fishermen languishing in Pakistani jails,” said Jivan Jungi, national executive committee member of India-Pakistan People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy, an NGO.

In May and June, the Pakistan government had released nearly 400 Indian fishermen who were arrested under similar charges.

Earlier, a senior jail official at Karachi’s Malir Jail said the Indian fishermen were put on the Allama Iqbal Express train under heavy security and will reach Lahore tomorrow from where they will be handed over to Indian authorities at the Wagah border.

Faisal Edhi of the Edhi Welfare Trust, which made arrangements for the Indian fishermen to travel to Lahore, said that the Indian fishermen who were mostly from poor backgrounds were overjoyed to finally be returning home.

“They are happy they will be joining their families soon. We have given them cash and other gifts to take home,” he said.

Pakistan and India regularly arrest each others’ fishermen for violating the maritime boundary which is poorly marked at some points.

(With PTI inputs)