Pak hands over 20 Indian fishermen to India at Wagah
Lahore/ Attari: Twenty Indian fishermen arrested by Pakistan for allegedly entering into the country's territorial waters were handed over to India through the Wagah border crossing on Monday.
The fishermen, kept in Karachi's Landhi Jail, were released on Sunday after completing their jail term. A spokesperson of the Edhi Foundation, a non-profit Pakistani social welfare organisation, said that the fishermen were handed over to India's Border Security Force (BSF) in the evening after meeting the legal formalities.
"The 20 fishermen who were released from the District Prison and Correctional Facility, Malir, on Sunday and brought to Wagah on Monday were handed over to the BSF in the evening after meeting the legal formalities, Muhammad Younis, a spokesperson of the Edhi Foundation, told the news agency.
They entered India on the basis of 'Emergency Travel Certificate' issued by the Indian High commission at Islamabad. The moment the fishermen crossed over to India, they knelt and kissed the ground. All were medically examined, including for COVID-19, said the officials in India. The fishermen will stay for a night in Amritsar, they said, adding that the fishermen will proceed back home to their native place in Gujarat on Tuesday.
Earlier, the released fishermen, arrested for illegally entering into the Pakistani waters and fishing without permission, were escorted to Lahore by road by the Edhi Foundation. The Edhi Foundation also paid Pakistani Rs 5,000 to each fisherman as a goodwill gesture.
The fishermen were in jail for the duration of three to five years for illegally crossing into Pakistan. They said they had no idea that their fishing boats had drifted off towards Pakistan waters. "It was dark and we thought that we were still in India when we were appro ac hed by the Pakistani coast guards in a big white boat. They arrested us for crossing over and seized our boat, said Suneel Lal, the longest serving prisoner among the 20, who was arrested five years ago.
