UDUPI: Indian Coast Guard and Coastal Security Police (CSP) officers apprehended three men who had entered Indian waters illegally on an Omanian fishing boat near St Mary’s Island, about eight nautical miles off the Udupi coast.
The arrested have been identified as James Franklin Moses (50), Robinston (50) and Derose Alphonso (38), all from Tamil Nadu. The trio has been booked under section 3 of Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and under sections 10, 11 and 12 of Maritime Zone of Indian Act, 1981.
During questioning, the accused said they started from Duqm port in the eastern part of Oman on February 17 at 3 pm. They were apprehended near St Mary’s Island off the Udupi coast on February 23 around 4.30 pm when a local fisherman alerted the CSP in Malpe.
Speaking to TNIE, Coastal Security Police SP Mithun H N ruled out terror angle and said preliminary probe showed that they were victimised by their employer in Oman and so they decided to take the risk of coming to Tamil Nadu on the boat as their passports were also held by the employer.
With just a basic GPS device, they traversed about 3,000 km and reached near St Mary’s Island via Karwar coast on February 23, he said. “We have found that they went to Oman legally through valid passports. They were victimised by their employer who didn’t give them proper food and money,” he said. They were produced before court in Udupi on Monday and were remanded them in judicial custody.