Gandhinagar : Almost cocking a snook, the Pakistan Marine Security Agency fired at Indian boats, captured 11 of the vessels and abducted 70 fishermen off the coast of Kutch, at a time when the strongest ever security umbrella is in evidence in the region in view of the ongoing All India annual conference of the Director Generals of Police, which was attended by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Dhordo in Kutch, the venue of the meet, had seen the most comprehensive security measures in place with all three arms of the services, Coast Guard, Intelligence as well as paramilitary agencies sanitizing not only the area but the entire Kutch coastline, well in advance of the meet.
The boats were fishing in Indian waters, said Manish Lodhari, secretary of the National Fish workers forum, when the Pakistan maritime agency opened fire, captured the boats along with the entire complement of about 70 fishermen. ‘‘There were in all 12 boats but one capsized after catching fire in the attack though the fishermen were rescued. The incident took place on Sunday when the entire gamut of security paraphernalia was on full alert in view of the presence of the Prime Minister, the Union home minister and two of his deputies; besides the DGPs of almost all states were camping in Kutch. The PMSA has taken the boats to Karachi, Lodhari said, adding that the information came from other fishermen who were fishing in the vicinity. This is the second incident in the last two months. On October 3, a dozen Indian fishing boats with 65 fishermen had similarly been captured and taken away by the Pakistani Marine Security. The Coast Guard and the police have been informed of the incident.
