Eight fishermen from Visakhapatnam, who reportedly strayed into Bangladesh territorial waters, have been detained by the Bangladesh Coast Guard.
The fishermen sailed from Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour on September 24, in a mechanised boat by name ‘Amrutha’ carrying eight crew members. And it is believed that they were into long line tuna fishing.
The boat reportedly strayed into Bangladesh territorial waters and was detained by the Bangladesh Coast Guard on October 2. “The reason is not known yet. But at times when there is an engine problem or very rough seas, the boats drift into the territorial waters of neighbouring countries,” said Dolphin Boat Operators’ Welfare Association president Ch. Satyanarayana Murthy.
The incident came to light after one of the detained fisherman contacted the owner of the boat, Vasupalli Ramu.
The fishermen have been identified as Marupalli Polayya, Rayati Appanna, Vasupalli Danayya, Marupalli Narasimha, Vasupalli Appanna, Rayati Ramu, Barri Ramulu and Vasupalli Appanna. All of them hail from Tippalavalasa Village in Vizianagaram district.
A common thing
Fishermen straying into territorial waters of neighbouring countries is a common thing. In this case, there is a bipartite agreement between Bangladesh and India. According to the agreement, the fishermen are released after the due process is followed. “We are working to bring them back as soon as possible,” said D. Pal, general secretary Democratic Traditional Fishers Workers Forum.
Meanwhile Visakhapatnam MP M.V.V. Satyanarayana has written to S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs, to take up the matter with his counterpart in Bangladesh and get the fishermen released at the earliest.
The family members of the fishermen met the District Collector and uarged him to take up the matter the Ministry and the embassies concerned.
There is some procedure to be followed at it is done at the External Affairs Ministry level with the involvement of embassies and things have been set into motion, said an official from the District Collector’s office.
