Daijiworld Media Network - Byndoor (SP)

Byndoor, Oct 13: 18 fishermen, one from Shirur here and 17 from Uttara Kannada district, who had gone to Dubai seeking employment and were working there as fishermen, have been arrested and detained in Iran by the government there on charges of crossing the international border. It is gathered that the fishermen along with their boat are languishing in Iran since the last two and half months.

One among the arrested fishermen happens to be Abdul Hussain from Kesarakody, Shirur. They were working for a Dubai-based boat owner named Sheikh Merwan. All of them had left India on April 25 and had ventured into the sea for fishing on July 27. They were nabbed the same day by Iranian policemen, accusing them of crossing the country's border.

Abdul Hussain

There is information that fishermen belonging to Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, who had been detained in the past for the same reason, were later released by the police. Karnataka fishermen are now waiting for their release. As per information, one among them is allowed to go out every day for procuring items of daily need, it is said.

The families of the stranded fishermen said that the fishermen have contacted the officials of the department of foreign affairs, and have requested them to put pressure on Iran government to release them.