Forty nine Indian fishermen who were detained by Iran in December last year have been freed and reached India on Thursday, a senior government official said.
"On December 1, 49 Indian fishermen who are employees of Al Shamshi Al Ajman, a UAE-based company, were detained while they were unknowingly fishing between the UAE and Iranian waters in the Kish island," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said at a media briefing here.
"These 49 fishermen have now been released by the Iranian authorities. They left Iran yesterday (Wednesday) for Chennai via Dubai and have arrived in India this morning," he said.
Of the 49 fishermen, 44 are from Tamil Nadu and five are from Gujarat.