After a 2-hour chase, Coast Guard rescues 7 Indian fishermen from Pak ship

Despite PMS Nusrat's efforts to retreat from the region, the Indian Coast ship intercepted and persuaded it to release the Indian fishermen.

An Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ship, Agrim, rescued seven Indian fishermen detained by a Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) ship on Sunday. The Indian ship chased the Pakistani vessel for two hours.

ICG ship Agrim successfully rescued the 7 Indian fishermen from the Pakistan Maritime Security ship. (X/@ANI)

According to ICG's statement, at around 3:30 pm on November 17, an ICG Ship on patrol received a distress call from an Indian fishing boat (IFB) near the No-Fishing Zone (NFZ).

The Coast Guard said that despite the PMSA ship Nusrat's efforts to return from the India-Pakistan Maritime Boundary, Agrim intercepted and persuaded it to release the Indian fishermen, news agency ANI reported.

All seven fishermen, safely retrieved by the ICG, were found to be in stable medical condition. However, their fishing boat, 'Kaal Bhairav', was damaged, the Coast Guard said in a statement, adding that it sank during the incident.

Defence officials said that the Coast Guard chased the Pakistan ship, PMS Nusrat, for around two hours before getting a hold of it. ICG "clearly told them that under no condition, it would allow the Pakistani ship to take away Indian fishermen from fishing boat Kaal Bhairav from Indian waters".

The ICG ship, Agrim, returned to Okha Harbour on Monday, November 18, following which a joint investigation by the Coast Guard, state police, intelligence agencies, and fisheries authorities was launched. The probe will ascertain how the collision took place and what happened during the rescue operation, the statement said.

In July, the ICG had rescued a stranded fishing boat Aashni along with its 11-member crew off the Kochi coast amid inclement weather.

The entire crew had been in danger as the boat was flooding due to a rupture in its hull.

An ICG Dornier aircraft had spotted the distressed fishing boat while conducting maritime surveillance. Immediately, Saksham, a patrolling ship, was diverted to assist the flooding boat.