516 fishermen, 32 indian boats repatriated by coast guard from Bangladesh
The boats alongwith the fishermen are being escorted up to Kakdwip harbour where they will be handed over to state fisheries authorities.
Kolkata: In a major breakthrough the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) in a coordinated operation with Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) successfully repatriated 516 fishermen alongwith 32 Indian fishing boats from Bangladesh on Tuesday.
These boats were stranded and had taken shelter at Payra Port in Bangladesh approximately 135 kms from International Maritime Boundary Line due to inclement weather and rough sea conditions in the Bay of Bengal, the ICG (North East region) stated in the evening.
It said, "The fishing boats were escorted by two BCG ships Mansoor Ali and Sadhin Bangla up to the IMBL where they were formally handed over to Indian Coast Guard ships Vijaya and Anmol. The boats alongwith the fishermen are being escorted up to Kakdwip harbour where they will be handed over to the state fisheries authorities."
The ICG added, "This samaritan gesture from BCG comes at a time when the visit of delegation of the Bangladesh Coast Guard to India is underway for Annual Zonal/Regional Commanders meeting in Kolkata."
It elaborated, "Search for remaining 24 missing Indian fishermen is in progress by BCG, Naval ships, aircraft in the Bangladeshi waters. Besides search across IMBL in Bangladesh waters, ICG ships, hovercraft and aircraft are also carrying out search off West Bengal Coast and along the IMBL."