Pakistan abducts 17 fishermen

RAJKOT: Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) abducted 17 Indian fishermen and seized their three boats from International Maritime Boundary Line off Kutch coast on Thursday night.
Gujarat Fishermen Association president Manish Lodhari said PMSA personnel crossed over into Indian waters in their boat and abducted the 17 fishermen from Porbandar in the night. They also took away the fishermen's three boats.
Earlier in February, PMSA personnel had abducted 30 fishermen and also seized their five boats from Indian waters.All the five boats were from Porbandar town and the fishermen belonged to different towns of coastal Saurashtra.
Last year, the PMSA personnel had shot dead a fisherman from Gujarat and abducted 30 fishermen from IMBL. The deceased fisherman Naran Sosa was a resident of Sarkhadi village in Kodinar taluka of Gir-Somnath district.
Pakistan also had abducted 40 fishermen in October 2013 after crossing the IMBL. Frequent abduction of fishermen by PMSA has become a major cause of concern for the Indian fishermen, particularly those belonging to Gujarat. Lodhari said some 400 Indian fishermen were lodged in Pakistani jails and that their boats were in the custody of PMSA.