144 fishermen from Gujarat languishing in Pakistan jails: Govt tells assembly

Gandhinagar: A total of 144 fishermen from Gujarat are currently languishing in Pakistani jails, and 22 of them were arrested by the neighbouring country in the last two years, the state government told the legislative assembly on Wednesday.

State Fisheries Minister Raghavji Patel shared this information while responding to a query raised by Congress Legislative Party leader Amit Chavda during the Question Hour.

"Of the 144 fishermen, a total of 22 fishermen were caught by Pakistan in two years -- nine in 2023 and 13 in 2024," he said.

Notably, the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency keeps taking into custody fishermen from Gujarat at regular intervals, accusing them of entering the Pakistani waters by crossing the notional International Maritime Border Line (IMBL) in the Arabian Sea.

The minister also informed the assembly that Pakistan had also released 432 Indian fishermen in the last two years, while 144 were still in their custody as of January 2025.

Responding to a related question raised by Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar, the minister said as many as 1,173 fishing boats from India are also in the possession of Pakistan as of December 2024 and none of them has been returned to the country in the last two years.

Patel said the state government had submitted required documents and proofs of nationality of these fishermen to the Ministry of Home Affairs at regular intervals in the last two years for their release.