Pakistan to release 20 Gujarat fishermen on June 20: Gujarat govt

Twenty fishermen from Gujarat, who had been captured at sea by Pakistan in the past, will be released and handed over to the Indian authorities on June 20, a state government official said on Friday.

"We have been informed that 20 fishermen from Gujarat will be freed from jail in Pakistan on Monday and handed over to Indian authorities at Wagah border in Punjab," state Director of Fisheries, Nitin Sangwan, said.

These fishermen will be brought to Gujarat following their release, he said.

As per the latest figures shared by the Gujarat government in the Legislative Assembly in March this year, nearly 500 fishermen from Gujarat are languishing in jails in Pakistan, of whom 358 were arrested by that country in the last two years.

In the last two years, 20 fishermen from Gujarat have returned home following their release from Pakistan, the state government had said. The Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) apprehends fishermen from Gujarat in the Arabian sea on the charge of entering the Pakistani waters by crossing the notional International Maritime Border Line (IMBL).