The Coast Guard on Wednesday said it had apprehended four Myanmarese fishermen fishing illegally in Indian waters off the Barren Island, in Andaman and Nicobar.
In the early hours of May 2, ICGS Rajshree, during a routine patrol, sighted a boat operating off the Barren Island close to the coast and as it tried to establish communication with the boat it did not respond, a Coast Guard statement said.
“Instead, the poachers carried out forced ditching of their boat on the rocky shores of Barren and tried to flee into the island. The manoeuvre by a Coast Guard boarding party resulted in the apprehension of two poachers, while others managed to escape into the dense forest on the island,” the statement said. The boarding party also recovered fish catch, including sea cucumber, turtle skull and conch shells from the boat, it stated.
Two of the missing fishermen were apprehended a day later on May 3 and were handed over to the police at Port Blair on Tuesday for further investigation, the Coast Guard said. “It is suspected that some of the poachers were still hiding in the dense forest on the Barren Island. The Coast Guard, in coordination with the local police, is carrying out a joint search operation for the missing poachers,” the statement added.
This is the second apprehension by the Coast Guard in 10 days.
