A group of 144 fishermen released by Pakistan as a goodwill gesture will arrive in Vadodara in the early hours of Monday, Gujarat Chief Secretary JN Singh told PTI today.
Pakistan had released 145 fishermen, belonging to Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, on December 28 from Karachi's Landhi jail, said officials.
These fishermen had been handed over to Indian authorities at the Wagah border last evening, said officials.
"However we took custody of only 144 fishermen out of 145 released by Pakistan. We did not accept custody of Haresh Bhikha Solanki as his name was not in the list of 145 fishermen submitted to Indian authorities in advance," said J F Toraniya, a Gujarat official who was part of the team that received the fishermen at the border.
Toraniya said the 144 fishermen would be traveling in two special coaches of the 12484 Amritsar-Kochuveli Express which will leave Amritsar at 6am on Sunday and reach Vadodara early Monday morning.
Officials said that there are a total of 291 fishermen in Pakistan's custody and the second batch of 146 fishermen would be released on January 8.
Fishermen from Pakistan and India are frequently detained for illegally fishing in the territorial waters of both countries.
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