After 5 months of detention, Iran releases Fifteen Indian fishermen from Uttara Kannada district

NewsBharati    09-Jan-2019
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Bangalore, January 9: Iran released fifteen Indian fishermen from Uttara Kannada district who had illegally entered the country five months ago. The fishermen were working in three boats owned by the UAE businessman and along with three other fishermen from Dubai were detained since July 27 after they had entered the Kish Island in Iran.

 

Deputy Commissioner of Uttara Kannada said in a statement that Karnataka Chief Minister and the district administration had written to the Union government, and that the fifteen fishermen were released from detention on Tuesday.

The Deputy Commissioner of Uttara Kannada informed that soon after fifteen Indian fishermen were detained along with three other fishermen from Dubai, they had posted a video through WhatsApp to Karwar district administration. The district administration then wrote a letter to the Ministry of External Affairs and requested Sushma Swaraj to take up the matter.

The release of the fishermen was delayed as one of the Dubai-based fishermen in the detention escaped from the boat, and as a punishment, the Iranian authorities had sent the other two Dubai-based fishermen to jail and Indian fishermen were detained.

Even though the boat owners made efforts to release the Indians, it was only after the intervention of the Indian Foreign Affairs Ministry that the Iranian government agreed to release them. The fishermen are enroute to UAE and they would return to India soon.