Thais fishermen held at India missile test

Thais fishermen held at India missile test

New Delhi (Agencies) - Hours before India fired a nuclear-capable Agni-1 missile, police and forest officials seized a trawler and detained its 25-member Burmese and Thai crew for fishing illegally near the missile test range.

The high-security test took place off the coast of Orissa state in northeastern India.

"The 22 (Burmese) and three Thai nationals are crew of Jalapari-3, a deep sea fishing vessel that had strayed into the Gahiramatha Marine Sanctuary in Kendrapara district," officer-in-charge (Rajnagar police station) Subash Chandra Panda said.

The vessel is owned by New Delhi-based businessman Pradeep Bhardwaj, he added.

Senior police and forest officials rushed to the scene to interrogate the fishermen, who claimed that Bhardwaj had obtained permission from the Centre to fish near the marine sanctuary.

"We have contacted Bhardwaj and he will arrive in Kendrapara soon," Panda said. The crew faces arrest under the provisions of the Maritime Zone of India Act and the Foreigners Act, if they didn't have permission to fish in Indian waters.

According to regulations, trawlers and deep sea fishing vessels are not allowed within five kilometres of the coast in the area.

Three months ago, 28 fishermen from Thailand and Burma were caught after their vessels had sunk near Paradeep port after being caught in a heavy storm from a typhoon on their way to Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The vessels, Jalapari-1 and Jalapari-2, were also owned by Bhardwaj.