After release from Pak, 18 fishermen reunite with kin

Eighteen Indian fishermen, who were recently released from Pakistan, were today reunited with their families, a Gujarat state official said today.
"Soon after their arrival at Vadodara Railway Station late last night, they were interrogated by investigative agencies to verify their identity. After that, they were taken to the coastal town of Veraval in Gir Somnath district, where they met their family members," Superintendent of Fisheries Department Ashok Patel told PTI over phone.
A team led by Patel had received these fishermen at Wagah Border last Monday and they arrived here in a train late last night from Amritsar.
Some of these fishermen alleged that they were beaten up by the jail authorities in Pakistan for raising demand of their early release after completion of their jail terms. They were held for illegally entering Pakistani waters.

Bharat, one of the released fishermen, said, "My jail term had got over in 2014. When I took up the issue of my release, the Karachi jail authorities started beating me. There were several others like me, who underwent a similar treatment."
While eleven of the eighteen released fishermen belong to Gir Somnath district, six of them are from Valsad district and one from Ahmedabad.