Mumbai: Mumbai police on Wednesday arrested three men from Kerala on Wednesday for illegally entering India aboard a fishing boat from Kuwait. The boat was spotted off the Mumbai coast on Tuesday morning. The three men were produced before a court, which remanded them to police custody till February 10.
Seeking the remand, the police said they have to verify the route taken by the trio and whether they had committed any crime in the international territory.
However, the advocate of the accused claimed that they escaped from their Kuwaiti employer who withheld their passports and ill-treated them.
According to the remand copy, which was submitted in the court, the cops have recovered GPS from the boat which needs to be sent for analysis to get clarity on the route taken by the three from Kuwait to India.
It also mentioned, “During the initial probe, the accused persons said they left Kuwait on January 28 and travelled to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Dubai, Muscat, Oman and Pakistan before entering the Indian shores. The police are yet to ascertain this route.”
The 30 metres long Arab fishing trawler was spotted off the Mumbai coast during patrolling on Tuesday morning, following which a case was registered against Nitso Ditto (31), Vijay Vinay Anthony (29), and J Sahayatta Anish (29) under the provisions of the Passport (Entry into India) Rules for not following the due procedure required while entering the country.
According to the police, the trio were arrested and produced before the court. All of them had gone to Kuwait from Trivandrum in Kerala two years back through an agent, identified as Captain Madan, for jobs. They were working as fishermen with one Abdulla Sharheed, who had kept their passports with him. Police said that they have claimed that they were not paid wages regularly and they were also assaulted.
