Visakhapatnam, Feb 2 (IANS) Nine fishermen from Andhra Pradesh returned to Visakhapatnam on Monday after being released from a Bangladesh jail.
They were detained by the Bangladesh Navy in October last year for inadvertently crossing maritime boundaries while fishing in the Bay of Bengal.
The Indian Coast Guard escorted them to the Visakhapatnam coast and handed them over to the marine police.
It was a tearful reunion of the fishermen with their families after four months. The fishermen and their families thanked the Central and the state governments for ensuring their safe return.
The Bangladesh Coast Guard handed over the fishermen to the Indian Coast Guard at the International Maritime Boundary Line on January 29.
Two fishing boats carrying 15 crew members sailed from Visakhapatnam then to receive these fishermen mid-sea and brought them to the Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour.
The nine fishermen were part of a group of 23 Indian fishermen who were handed over to the Indian Coast Guard by their Bangladesh counterparts. The remaining 14 fishermen were from West Bengal.
Two India-owned fishing boats were also handed over to Indian authorities.
The Bangladesh Coast Guard, in exchange, received 128 Bangladeshi fishermen along with five Bangladeshi fishing boats from the Indian Coast Guard.
The Bangladeshi fishermen detained in India were repatriated under a reciprocal arrangement.
The exchange was carried out by the coast guards of the two countries at the International Maritime Boundary Line in the Bay of Bengal.
The repatriated Bangladeshi fishermen included a group of 13 who had drifted into the Indian waters and reached the Andhra Pradesh coast.
They departed Visakhapatnam port aboard an Indian Naval ship and were handed over to the Bangladesh Coast Guard at the international maritime border.
Officials said they were provided new clothes at the direction of Visakhapatnam Collector M. N. Harindranath.
It was on November 30 last year that 13 fishermen from Bangladesh were taken into custody by the marine police in Srikakulam district.
The fishermen reached Musavanipeta of Etcherla mandal of the district after they were stranded at sea and ran out of fuel and food in the boat.
According to the marine police, the boat reportedly drifted towards the West Bengal and Odisha coasts and later reached the Srikakulam coast.
The Bangladeshi fishermen said they lost their way while fishing in Bangladeshi waters and drifted towards the Indian coast.
The fishermen said they had been starving for the past 15 days. The locals offered them food and medicine.
Meanwhile, AP Mechanised Fishing Boats Union President Janakiram Vasupalli thanked External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar for the safe return of Indian fishermen.
–IANS
ms/vd