27 Indian fishermen arrested by Pakistani authorities

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Pakistani authorities have arrested 27 Indian fishermen on charges of illegally fishing in the country’s waters, officials said on Thursday.

The Maritime Security Agency arrested the fishermen and seized five fishing boats on Monday, said a spokesman for the MSA. Several Indian fishing boats entered Pakistan’s Exclusive Economic Zone during the Eid holidays but a MSA vessel cleared the area and detained the five boats, he claimed.

The spokesman said the Indian boats had intruded 40 to 50 nautical miles inside Pakistan's territorial waters. The Indian fishermen were later handed over to the Docks Police in Karachi and an FIR was lodged against them.

"Well over 100 Indian fishermen have been arrested by the Pakistani maritime authorities during the current year," Pakistan Fisher Folk Forum president Muhammad Ali Shah told the media.

He said the two countries should forge an alternative method to check illegal fishing instead of arresting each other’s fishermen.