The Coast Guard on Sunday detained an Iranian fishing vessel with six Indian crew members from Kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu as it was heading towards the Kerala coast west of Beypore, around 20 nautical miles from Koyilandy in Kozhikode district.
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According to sources, the operation involved a ship and a helicopter. The boat was later brought to Kochi for further investigations and legal proceedings.
Initial investigations by the Coast Guard team revealed that the boat was owned by an Iranian sponsor who had taken on contract the six fishermen from Kanniyakumari by issuing them Iranian visas for fishing off the Iran coast in his boat.
The crew members reportedly told the Coast Guard that they were being ill-treated since the day they were hired. They had not been provided basic living conditions too. Their passports were allegedly confiscated. The fishermen then decided to escape from Iran to India using the boat in which they were employed.