ICG detains Iranian fishing vessel with six Indian crew close to Kerala coast
The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) detained an Iranian fishing vessel, with six Indian crew, west of Beypore off the coast of Kerala late on Sunday.
The swift sea-air coordinated operation involved the ships and aircraft of the ICG, read a statement issued by the Indian government.
After intercepting the boat, an ICG team boarded the vessel and thoroughly investigated it to check the involvement of any anti-national activity.
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 crew alleged that the sponsor ill-treated and deprived them of basic living conditions, besides confiscating their passports. The crew said that they had decided to escape from Iran to India using the same boat.
The detained vessel was safely brought to Kochi for further investigation on May 6.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.