Eight fishermen still untraceable

The coastal security police carried out search operations to trace eight fishermen, who along with their boat went missing during deep sea fishing.

The family members of the fishermen, on board the fishing boat Suvarna Tribhuja, are worried over their whereabouts.

The fishing boat had left for fishing from Malpe on December 13. The fishermen remained in contact with their relatives till the midnight of December 15. Later, they went incommunicado.

Leaders from the fishermen community said, “Had the boat capsized, then the parts of the boat would have washed ashore. However, there is no trace of the boat or its parts.” They suspected that the fishermen must have lost their route and appealed to the authorities to bring them back.

Former minister Pramod Madhwaraj has appealed to the State government to trace the missing fishermen. Madhwaraj, who spoke to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and DGP Neelamani Raju, has demanded constitution of a special force to trace the missing fishermen.