PORT BLAIR: In an anti-poaching operation at high sea, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ship Laxmi Bai apprehended four Sri Lankan fishing boats and 24 crew members, fishing illegally in the Indian waters.
The crew members were brought to the capital, on Tuesday, for further investigation. The initial investigations revealed their nationality.
“Our ship while on routine patrol sighted these fishing boats, some150 nautical miles south west of Port Blair. Seeing that these boats had a different structure compared to those from these islands, ICG ship altered its course towards these boats and soon found that those were Sri Lankan fishing boats,” Commandant Akshay Jain, ICG public relations officer, told The New Indian Express on Tuesday.
The public relations officer added that on getting closer, they found that there were four boats scattered over a distance of five to seven nautical miles.
On seeing the ICG ship approaching, one boat tried to flee, but the ICG vessel caught up with it and stopped the boat.
Meanwhile, the ship’s boarding party despite rough sea conditions boarded another fishing boat.
The remaining two boats came near the Coast Guard vessel on seeing that their fellow fishermen were being apprehended. As per the initial investigations, these fishing boats have approximately 4000 kg of tuna fish onboard.