By IANS
Kendrapada (Orissa) : The police have detained 25 nationals of Thailand and Myanmar for fishing in the sea off a missile test range in Orissa.
“Three fishermen from Thailand and 22 from Myanmar were detained Thursday evening. Their vessel called ‘Jalapari-3’ was also seized.” S.C. Panda, officer-in-charge of the Rajnagar police station, Friday told IANS.
They were fishing near the Wheeler’s Island located in the Gahiramatha marine sanctuary in Kendrapada district, about 150 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar, he said.
The detainees claimed they work as crew of the fishing vessel, owned by a New Delhi based merchant called Pradeep Bharadwaj.
“They claimed that the owner of the vessel obtained permission from the ministry of agriculture for fishing in the Indian water. We are examining if they have valid documents,” the officer said.