Between the rock & deep blue sea – Indian sailors seek help

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KUWAIT CITY, Jan 4: Four Indian sailors who were arrested on May 2013 by the Kuwait Coast Guard along with their captain and charged by the authorities with ‘smuggling’ diesel remain stranded in ‘no man’s land’. The men identified as S.S., R.K. R.S. and J.A., who hail from Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal and the Punjab, were picked up inside Kuwait’s territorial waters while sailing aboard an Iranian vessel ‘Janan’ allegedly owned by M.A. and managed by A.S., according to Indian sources.

During initial interrogation the Iranian captain, identified as M.K., had reportedly denied the allegation of smuggling diesel and said the diesel found on board the vessel was reserve fuel for onward journey. He was subsequently bailed out in 2015 by the owners of the vessel and is said to have escaped from the country, while S.S. remains under house arrest at his sponsor’s house and the three other sailors remain in detention.

The detainees have reportedly sought the help of Indian government to seek their release, but in the meantime according to unconfirmed reports the Indian mission in Kuwait has taken up the case and is offering legal counsel to solve their problem and help them return to India.

One of the Indian crew members was quoted by the Indian newspapers as saying he and his colleagues were unaware about the fact that diesel fuel ‘transfer’ is illegal in the country. Some other sources said although the crew members are free to move around the country, there is a travel ban on them until the local court issues a verdict in the case. According to local laws the men cannot work and this means they can neither support themselves nor leave for India.

By Paul Francis X. Fernandes Arab Times Staff

This news has been read 6118 times!

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