Three more fishers from Thiruvananthapuram detained in Qatar return home

6 Keralites taken into custody by Qatar authorities on June 3

Three more fishers from Thiruvananthapuram district who had been detained in Qatar since June returned home on Thursday.

Vijayan Christopher, 36, and Arun, 22, of Poonthura, and Michael Selvadasan, 34, of Adimalathura arrived here by an evening flight from Mumbai, NORKA officials said.

They were among six Keralites who had set out to sea for fishing from Iran and were taken into custody by the Qatar authorities for entering their territorial waters on June 3.

Reportedly, their boat was caught in strong winds and had inadvertently entered Qatar waters. NORKA officials said they had been in regular contact with the Indian embassies in Qatar and Iran to effect the release of the men. The three men had arrived in Mumbai from Qatar on July 28.

Two other men in their group, Ratheesh and Selvam, had returned home to Poonthura two days ago after completing their RT-PCR tests. The remaining fisherman, Basil, is quarantined in Qatar after testing positive for COVID-19. He will be brought to Thiruvananthapuram soon, NORKA said.

The fishers had gone to Iran in December last year.