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80 fishermen released from Pakistan arrive in Gujarat, reunite with kin

In May and June this year, the Pakistan government had released nearly 400 Indian fishermen

Fishermen in Nainativu, one of the three islands off northern Sri Lanka that a Chinese company was set to develop renewable energy plants on until it was cancelled by the government in Colombo. Photographer: Jonathan Wijayaratne/Bloomberg

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Press Trust of India Ahmedabad

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Eighty fishermen released from a jail in Karachi in Pakistan reached Vadodara in Gujarat by train on Sunday, from where they were taken to Veraval in the state's Gir Somnath district by bus to be reunited with their families for Diwali, an official said.

The fishermen were released by Pakistani authorities on Thursday and were handed over to a team of the state's fisheries department at the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab the next day, an official release said.

They had left the Gujarat coast at regular intervals in 2020 and were held by the maritime forces of Pakistan for allegedly fishing in that country's waters.

 

Of the 80 fishermen who have been released, 59 are from Gir Somnath district, 15 from Devbhoomi Dwarka, two from Jamnagar, one from Amreli, all in Gujarat, while three are from the Union Territory of Diu, the release said.

"All of them were caught in 2020. About 200 fishermen are still languishing in Pakistani jails. The freed fishermen will be able to celebrate Diwali with their families," said the release.

In May and June this year, the Pakistan government had released nearly 400 Indian fishermen.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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First Published: Nov 12 2023 | 6:12 PM IST

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