DOHA: A group of 29 Qatar-based Indian fishermen that had strayed into Iranian territorial waters early last October and were detained has been released. They have joined their worried families back home.
Asked why the fishermen did not return to Qatar from where they had ventured on fishing expeditions in six boats, a source at the Indian embassy yesterday said that many were feeling homesick and wanted to join their near and dear ones.
Soon after reports of the fishermen having been detained by the Iranian authorities trickled down, the embassy began coordinating with their sponsors and Qatar’s foreign ministry to get them released.
The embassy, as a matter of routine, took up the case with its counterpart in Tehran and contacted the Iranian mission here to expedite the release of the fishermen.
Indian embassy sources said that they managed to ensure through their contacts that food supplies and financial assistance were provided to the detainees regularly.
The fishermen hailed from the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Meanwhile, a press statement issued by India-based South Asian Fishermen’s Fraternity (SAFF) said that the fishermen were detained in their boats for 60 days before 22 were sent to jail while seven were allowed to remain in boats off the Iranian coast.
The group was released on January 10 and asked to pay a fine of QR12,000 ($3,287.6) for each boat.
As reported earlier, six Qatari fishing boats were involved.
So the total fine the group was required to pay was QR72,000 (roughly $20,000).
The statement said that the fines were paid in full by the sponsors who were also owners of the boats.
Although the fines were paid, the fishermen were detained in their boats for another 25 days and released on January 25, according to SAFF.
They travelled to the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram early yesterday and were received at the airport by the MP from the Kanyakumari constituency, Helen Davidson.
Most fishermen come from the coastal Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu. SAFF lauded the role of the Indian embassy in Tehran in the release of the fishermen.
The Peninsula
