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Fishermen to be freed

Nirupama Subramanian

ISLAMABAD: Two Indian children who were arrested for straying into Pakistani waters along with fishermen will be released in Karachi on Saturday, officials said.

The two boys, 10-year-old Piyush and nine-year-old Bharat, belong to a fishing hamlet in Diu. They were arrested in November 2005 in a boat with fishermen that had crossed the international maritime boundary between India and Pakistan.

An Indian official will accompany them back to Mumbai on a plane from Karachi tomorrow.

A Pakistan Foreign Ministry release said 71 other fishermen would be released as a goodwill gesture on May 30.

They are to be handed over to Indian officials at the Wagah border.

That leaves 240 Indians in Pakistani jails, apart from 192 others whose nationality Indian officials here hope to confirm soon as they are granted consular access to them.

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