Twenty one foreign crew members of a US-firm owned ship M V Seaman Guard Ohio walked free from the Puzhal Central Prison here following their release on conditional bail.
With this, all the 33 crew members of the 35, whom the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court had granted bail on March 26, have been set free. The court, however, refused bail to the ship's Captain and Vice-Captain Dudinik Valentyn and Paul David Dennis Towers respectively.
Yesterday, 12 Indians, who were part of the detained ship crew, were released from Palayamkottai prison in Tirunelveli. However, the release of remaining 21 was delayed as they could complete the formalities only today.
The Coast Guard authorities had detained the ship on October 11 last year off Tuticorin port on charges of trespassing into Indian waters and carrying arms and ammunitions without licence.
The police arrested the crew members on October 18 and they remained in judicial custody for about six months.
