COAST GUARD DETAINS IRAN VESSEL WITH SIX INDIAN CREW OFF KERALA
The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has detained an Iranian fishing vessel with six Indian crew members off the Kerala coast, the Ministry of Defence said Monday. The Indian nationals, all fishermen from Tamil Nadu, fled Iran where their sponsor had allegedly mistreated them, it said.
In a statement, the Ministry said a “swift, coordinated operation involving ships and aircraft of the ICG” was launched Sunday night to intercept the Iranian-flagged vessel off the west coast of Beypore in Kozhikode district.
An ICG team boarded the vessel and thoroughly investigated it to check the involvement of any anti-national activity, it said.
“Initial investigation revealed that the owner of the boat was an Iranian sponsor who had contracted these Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu and issued them Iranian visas for fishing off the Iran coast,” the Ministry statement said.
“The crew alleged that the sponsor ill-treated and deprived them of basic living conditions, besides confiscating their passports,” it said, adding the crew had decided to escape to India using the same boat.
The detained vessel was brought to Kochi for further investigation on Monday, the Ministry added.
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2024-05-06T23:38:49Z dg43tfdfdgfd