Fishermen associations had appealed to the State and Central governments to take effective steps to rescue three fishermen – two from Kanniyakumari district and one from Tirunelveli district – arrested by Iran Coast Guard (ICG) when their boat got stuck in the international waters near Iran in the first week of August, said South Asian Fishermen Fraternity (SAFF) and International Fishermen Development Education Trust (INFIDET) here on Thursday.
PetitionThe SAFF, along with the families of the fishermen, submitted a petition to Collector Sajjansingh R. Chavan to rescue the fishermen.
The three fishermen – Sagaya Selvem (29) and Robert (39) of Puthenthurai in Kanniyakumari district and Viyakulam Arnald (20) of Koothankuzhi in Tirunelveli district – along with one of the local fishermen had ventured into the sea for fishing from Sharjah in Dubai on August 2 and did not return to the shore in the evening.
It was alleged that their motorized boat suffered a snag in mid sea and drifted towards Iran due to strong wind. Initially, the families feared that the fishermen had gone missing and later they received information from the sponsors of their breadwinners that they were arrested by the ICG and remanded in Iran prison, the SAFF in its petition said.
AppealP. Justin Antony, president of the INFIDET, also appealed to the Ministry of External Affairs and the State government to take quick action to secure their release.
