Ahmedabad: The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) rescued seven Indian fishermen from a Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) ship after a mid-sea chase near the maritime boundary line, officials said on Monday, November 18.

The Coast Guard received a distress signal from an Indian fishing boat operating near the No-Fishing Zone (NFZ) on Sunday afternoon, prompting it to dispatch a ship on the rescue mission.

“The ICG ship intercepted the PMSA ship and persuaded them to release Indian fishermen. The ICG ship was able to retrieve the seven fishermen safely, who were all found to be in stable medical condition,” it said.

“At approximately 3:30 pm, an ICG ship on patrol received a distress call from an Indian fishing boat operating near the NFZ. The call reported that another Indian fishing boat, Kal Bhairav, had been intercepted by a PMSA vessel, and seven Indian crew members on board had been apprehended,” said the ICG, about the distress call they recieved.

The Coast Guard immediately swung into action and sent its ship to the location near the India-Pakistan Maritime Boundary (IMBL).

Despite efforts by the PMSA ship to retreat, the ICG ship eventually intercepted the vessel from the neighbouring country and persuaded personnel on board to release the seven Indian fishermen they had apprehended, it said.

The ICG reportedly released the Indian fishermen after a 2-hour-long chase, interception and intense negotiation with the PMSA ship.

The Indian fishing boat “Kal Bhairav”, however, was reported to have been damaged and sunk during the incident, the coastal security agency said.

Earlier last week, a joint operation by anti-narcotics agencies, led to the seizure of about 700 kg of drugs and the arrest of eight Iranian nationals from Indian territorial waters off the Gujarat coast around Porbandar on Friday.

The street value of the seized Methamphetamine, a synthetic recreational variety of narcotics, could be anywhere between Rs 2,500-3,500 crore in the international market, according to Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials.

An operation codenamed ‘Sagar Manthan- 4’ was launched based on intelligence inputs to intercept an un-registered vessel, without an AIS (automatic identification system) or an electronic boat or ship-tracking indicator, that will be entering the Indian waters with drugs, the NCB said in a statement.

The suspect vessel was identified and “interdicted” by the Navy by mobilising its maritime patrol assets (ships) and the seizure of the drugs and apprehensions took place on Friday, the statement said.

“A huge consignment of about 700 kg of Methamphetamine was interdicted in Indian Territorial waters. During this operation, eight foreign nationals were arrested who claim to be Iranians,” the NCB said.

The eight men do not have any identity documents, it said.

The operation was carried out jointly by the NCB, Navy and Gujarat Police Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS).