BSF officials apprehend four Pakistani fishermen, seize 10 boats in Kutch

The BSF team has cordoned off the area, and a search operation is underway. However, security personnel did not recover anything suspicious from the boats

In a major breakthrough with respect to national security, personnel from the Border Security Force (BSF) on Thursday thwarted an intrusion attempt by Pakistani fishermen in Harami Nala area of Kutch district in Gujarat.

Border Security Force personnel with the apprehended Pakistan nationals in Kutch, Gujarat. (BSF Photo)

“In the wee hours of July 7, a special ambush party of BSF Bhuj apprehended four Pakistani fishermen and seized their 10 fishing boats while they were sneaking into Indian territory through one of the water channels of Harami Nalla near Indo-Pak border in Kutch District of Gujarat,” BSF officials said.

The BSF team has cordoned off the area, and a search operation is underway. However, security personnel did not recover anything suspicious from the boats.

On June 25, two Pakistani fishermen were apprehended by BSF from the same Harami Nala area. Both sustained bullet injuries in the ankle while trying to escape back to Pakistan. They were apprehended as part of a search operation that began on June 23 after BSF officials seized nine Pakistani fishing boats from different locations in the same area. But the fishermen managed to escape and hid in the area that’s spread over 300 sq km.

In the first week of June, BSF Bhuj, in a joint search operation with Jakhau Marine Police seized 49 packets of suspected heroin from the Sayali creek near Jakhau Port area. The drugs recovered were estimated to be about ₹250 crore in value.

Earlier, on the intervening night of May 20 and May 21, the Indian Coast Guard and Gujarat Police ATS seized a Pakistani boat near the international maritime border between Sir Creek and Jakhau Port, and detained seven Pakistani nationals. The crew allegedly dumped the drugs into the sea during this operation.

Soon after the incident, BSF Bhuj put the area on high alert and launched continuous search operations, leading to the recovery of the drug consignments.

On April 25, the Indian Coast Guard and the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) apprehended another Pakistani boat with nine crew members near the state coast and recovered heroin worth ₹280 crore from the vessel.