ISLAMABAD: Pakistani officials said that Pakistan has freed 198 Indian fishermen following completion of their sentences and verification of national status. In a statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that the repatriation process of Indian fishermen was completed last night via Wagha border.
198 Indian Fishermen Released from Jail: Pakistan
The statement said that fishermen had been handed over to the Indian officials at the Wagah Border in Lahore. She maintained that their release is as per Pakistan’s consistent policy of not politicizing the issue of prisoners and taking a humanitarian view of the issue. The fishermen were freed from Malir Jail in Karachi on Thursday and handed over to Indian officials at Wagah on Friday night.
Malir Jail Superintendent Nazir Tunio told the media that they had freed the 1st batch of Indian fishermen prisoners, and 2 more would be freed in June and July. “We released 198 fishermen prisoners on Thursday while 200 and 100 more will be freed later,” he added. Pakistan was to release 200 fishermen of India on Thursday from Malir prision but two of them passed away due to illness. Their dead bodies have been kept in the Edhi Foundation mortuary to repatriate them to India.
The 2nd batch of 200 Indian fishermen will be freed on 2nd June and another 100 on 3rd July as per the agreement between the two sides, said the Secretary General of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum.
