Gujarat Police confirmed the incident, Pak says six people have been detained

A branch of the Pakistan Navy, the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency, on Sunday said it opened fire on Indian boats near the Gujarat coast, claiming the life of one Indian national and detaining five others. The Gujarat Police have confirmed that the firing took place on the Pakistani side.

“A boat sailing from Gujrat state in India illegally transgressed into Pakistan's territorial waters. Subsequently Pakistan Maritime Security Agency’s ships attempted to interdict the intruding boat, which even after repeated warnings did not respond or change course,” the PMSA said.

The PMSA said it fired warning shots at the Indian boat, which it claimed did not stop. The coastal agency then fired “directly onto the Indian boat” following which one Indian national onboard was killed. It said six Indians from the boat were taken into custody for “questioning of their motives”.

The Gujarat Police confirmed the incident, saying that the deceased fisherman was from Thane, Maharashtra.

"A fisherman from Thane in Maharashtra, who was on a fishing boat 'Jalpari,' was killed after the PMSA personnel opened fire on him and other crew members on Saturday evening," Devbhumi Dwarka Superintendent of Police Sunil Joshi said, PTI reported.

There were seven crew members on the boat and one of them also sustained a minor injury in the firing incident, he said. The incident took place around 4pm on Saturday.

The body of the deceased fisherman, Sridhar Ramesh Chamre (32), was brought to Okha port on Sunday and an FIR was being registered by the Porbandar Navi Bandar police, which has jurisdiction across Gujarat over any incident that occurs beyond 12 nautical miles in the Arabian sea, he added. "Chamre was on the fishing boat 'Jalpari', which had sailed from Okha on October 25 with seven crew members, five of whom from Gujarat and two from Maharashtra," Joshi said.

An investigation into the incident was underway, he said

Police said that the body would be handed over to the family following the post-mortems.

While incidents in the territorial waters between India and Pakistan often take place, deaths are rare.

In April 2020, Pakistani Marines opened fore on two boats near the International Maritime Boundary Line in the Arabian sea off the coast of Okha, Gujarat, resulting in one injury. In 2019, the PMSA sunk an Indian boat. While six of the seven fishermen onboard were later rescued, one was missing and presumed dead. In 2015, an Indian fisherman was killed by PMSA fire near the IMBL.