Pakistan sends 12 Indian fishermen to jail in Karachi for illegal fishing; incident marks second arrest in last 2 months

Karachi: Twelve Indian fishermen have been sent to jail in Karachi, days after being arrested by Pakistani authorities for allegedly fishing illegally in the country’s territorial waters in the Arabian Sea. [caption id=“attachment_4892401” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The 12 fishermen who were arrested by the Pakistan Maritime Security Force and their boat seized on Thursday were presented before a judicial magistrate by the Docks police on Friday. The magistrate has now sent them to judicial lock-up in the Landhi jail where other Indian fishermen are also serving sentences for some time now. The Pakistan Maritime Security Force (PMSF) had also arrested 18 Indian fishermen on 12 September and seized two boats for allegedly illegally fishing in Pakistan’s territorial waters. The PMSF after arresting the fishermen hands them over to the police which then completes the formalities of sending them to jails in either Landhi or Malir in Karachi. Before the September arrests, there had been a lull of five months without any incident of Indian fishermen being arrested by Pakistani authorities. The Pakistan government had as a goodwill gesture released 27 Indian fishermen on 14 August on the country’s Independence Day.