Goa police on Saturday arrested 20 crew members of a Chinese vessel for "illegal" fishing in Indian waters and registered a case under the Marine Act, police said.
Coast guard sources said the vessel +Hai Feng+, belonging to M/S Dragon Fisheries, was spotted 90 nautical miles west of Condapoor off Karnataka coast on Thursday evening. A case has been registered for economic offences, relating to Maritime Zones of India Act, 1981.
Coast Guard ship +Samar+ apprehended the members when +they were engaged in unauthorised and illegal transfer of fish from mechanised trawlers in high seas+, they said.
A team comprising officials of the Intelligence Bureau, Customs, Coast Guard and Crime Branch-police of the state has been constituted to assist the local police in investigating the case, the south Goa S.P, I D Shukla told PTI.
Shukla said the crew members were handed over to police by the Coast Guard.
The vessel was now anchored off Goa coast at Mormugao.