Indian authorities apprehended two Bangladeshi fishing trawlers on Tuesday with 78 people on board. The group had been fishing within Indian waters when they were caught by the Coast Guard ship during patrolling. The incident comes mere days after the ICG apprehended a group of four people from Myanmar for crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line.
“In a swift operation, the India Coast Guard apprehended two Bangladeshi fishing trawlers along with 78 crew for unauthorised fishing in Indian waters. The vessels have been brought to Paradip for legal proceedings,” read an official update shared via X.
Authorities had identified suspicious activity within the Indian Maritime Zone while patrolling along the IMBL and intercepted the two fishing trawlers. One vessel was identified as ‘FV Laila-2’ with 41 crew members while the second — called ‘FV Meghna-5’ had 37 fishermen on board. According to details shard by the authorities, both the trawlers were registered in Bangladesh. The boats were reportedly inspected at sea before being booked and escorted to Paradip for further investigation.
The incident comes less than two days after defence officials detained four foreigners close to the Tamil Nadu coast. Two ICG ships apprehended the individuals onboard a wooden boat on December 6 before handing them over to the relevant police authorities.
The ICG also rescued 12 crew members of the sunken Indian vessel MSV Al Piranpir from the North Arabian Sea on December 4 in collaboration with the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency. The merchant vessel had left from Porbandar with general cargo on December 2. It sank hours later due to rough seas and flooding — with the crew forced to abandon their vessel and take refuge in a small dinghy. They were eventually rescued approximately 270 km west of Dwarka within the Pakistani search and rescue region.
(With inputs from agencies)
