DOHA: Four Asian fishermen from Bahrain — three Indians and one Bangladeshi — were taken into custody last week for entering the territorial waters of Qatar.
This was the latest in a series of incidents, in which fishermen from neighbouring countries venturing into the Qatari territorial waters were arrested by the Qatari coastguard. All the Indian fishermen are from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. They have been identified as John Rose Lopus, Varghese Siluvai Pillai and Rajan Sesava.
Last month, Qatar had taken into custody some 22 Indian fishermen who had strayed into its waters from Bahrain but they were released after a court fined them and sentenced them to just 15 days’ custody.
The Indian-based South Asian Fishermen Fraternity (SAFF) has called on the Indian government to intervene for an early release of the India fishermen detained in Qatar.
The Peninsula
