Eight more fishermen stuck in Kuwait, attempts being made to bring them back

Their lawyer, however, claimed that the police hadn’t found anything suspicious from the trio. “The cops didn’t find anything suspicious about them, as they had just travelled from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Muscat, Oman and Pakistan and reached Indian waters to escape from their abusive employer

MUMBAI: Three fishermen who fled Kuwait for Mumbai in a fishing boat to escape harassment from their abusive employer told the police that eight more people from their village in Tamil Nadu, who accompanied them, were stuck in the Gulf country. The authorities are now contacting the Indian Embassy there to get the eight men back to India.

Mumbai, India – Feb 07, 2024: A boat from Kuwait in the Arabian Sea near the Gateway of India where three people on board, they are handed over to the Colaba Police, in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, Feb 07, 2024. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

On February 6, the Mumbai police’s patrolling boat intercepted the trawler near Prongs Lighthouse, around four nautical miles from Gateway of India. The police seized the boat and apprehended the three, identified as Enfant Vijay Vinod Anthony, 29, Nidiso Deto, 31, and Sahya Anthony Anish, 29. All three are natives of Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu and were brought to the police station.

“The three had fled from Kuwait with their employer Abdulla Sharahid’s fishing trawler on the pretext of going out to the sea for fishing. They had filled 6,000 litres of diesel in the trawler and took the sea route to Mumbai. The local police in Kuwait have registered a case after their employer lodged a complaint against them for stealing his fishing trawler,” said a police officer. “We have added sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 120B (conspiracy section) of the Indian Penal Code against them,” the police officer added.

Their lawyer, however, claimed that the police hadn’t found anything suspicious from the trio. “The cops didn’t find anything suspicious about them, as they had just travelled from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Muscat, Oman and Pakistan and reached Indian waters to escape from their abusive employer. They were short of food and survived only on bread and butter,” said their lawyer, advocate Sunil Pandey. He added that the three fishermen have applied for bail and that he argued their bail pleas on Friday.

“All three were booked initially under various sections of the Indian Passport Act for illegal entry into the country, but now the cops have added two more sections when it was confirmed they had fled Kuwait after harassment from their employer and there was nothing suspicious about them. Eight more people from their village have also been stuck in Kuwait and we will soon with the help of cops start the process to get them back,” Pandey added.