16 fishermen missing, SAFF seeks help to find them

Twelve fishermen from Kanniyakumari district of Tamil Nadu and four from West Bengal had ventured for deep sea fishing on May 5 by a boat named ‘Ajimersha’, bearing registration ‘IND/KL[1]07/MM-4989’, which belongs to Sabish from Beypore fishing harbour, Kozhikode, Kerala.

Those missing from Kanniyakumari belong to Colachel, Kadiyapatanam, Muttom, Thuckalay, Melpuram and Agastheeswaram.

SAFF general secretary Fr Churchill after enquiring said usually those fishermen used to go for hook and line fishing in deep sea for about 12 to 15 days and return. However, they have not returned in stipulated time. The SAFF tried to communicate about cyclone alert from May 13 onwards; however, all efforts had failed.

Hence, demands were made to Indian Coast Guard and Navy to conduct aerial search operations to rescue them at the earliest, Churchill said.

Much to agony, aggrieved families of those missing fishermen still did not know neither whereabouts, nor the knowledge about their having taken shelter in any other harbour as no contact has been established with them since May 13.