Pakistan Frees 20 Indian Fishermen, Hundreds Yet in Prison

File photo of a fisherman catching fish with the help of a traditional net in the floodwater of the Mahanadi river, in Cuttack, Odisha. (ANI Photo)

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan has freed 20 Indian fishermen who spent four years in prison in the port city of Karachi for violating the country’s territorial waters, an official said Nov. 14.

Arshad Shah, a prison official, said the group left the Karachi central prison and boarded a bus for the eastern city of Lahore. Shah said they would be handed over to Indian authorities at Wahgah border crossing. Shah said 588 more inmates were in the prison awaiting completion of legal formalities.

Both India and Pakistan periodically arrest each other’s fishermen for allegedly crossing the water frontiers in search of better catch. But both sides every year release some inmates after authorities negotiate and fulfill legal formalities.