Nine Somali pirates, who were caught by the Indian Navy during a high seas operation last week, were handed over to the Yellow Gate police station on Wednesday late afternoon. They were captured from an Iranian fishing vessel, which they had hijacked, with 23 Pakistani crew members onboard. The police also seized nine mobile phones, 728 rounds of live ammunition and AK 47 rifles recovered from the pirates.
Legal Charges and Court Proceedings For Captured Somali Pirates
Lieutenant Ankit Kumar Awal, the regulating officer of the warship INS Trishul which was involved in the rescue operation, gave a written complaint of piracy, while handing over the custody of the hijackers. “A case is being registered under the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Maritime Anti-Piracy Act, Passport Act and Arms Act against the nine pirates. The accused will be produced in magistrate court for seeking further police custody,” confirmed Deputy Commissioner Of Police (Mumbai Port Zone) Sanjay Latkar.
The accused were identified as Gelie Farah, 50, Ahmed Omar, 42, Abdikarin Shire, 34, Adan Warmase, 44, Mohammed Ahmed, 34, Abdikadir Ali, 28, Aaydid Jimale, 30, Said Adan, 25, and Jama Elmi, 18.
Indian Navy's Anti-Piracy Operation
Based on inputs, the Indian Navy patrolling the pirate-infested waters along the Somali coast of potential pirate attack diverted warship INS Sumedha.
The Saryu-class patrol vessel, INS Sumedha, intercepted Iranian fishing vessel FV 'Al Kambar 786' hijacked approx 90 nautical miles southwest of Socotra by the accused. The warship was joined by Talwar-class frigate, INS Trishul, for a high-octane 12-hour anti-piracy operation.
“Indian Navy has been patrolling the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea since 2008 to safeguard commercial vessels but lacked the legal backing to prosecute the pirates taken into custody. The new Maritime Anti-Piracy Act of 2022 has given teeth to the Navy to take legal action against the accused,” said a senior naval official.
Earlier last month, Indian Navy had handed custody of 35 Somali pirates, apprehended by the elite Marine Commandos from ship MV Ruen, to the Yellow Gate police station.
