KARACHI, Nov 9: The maritime authorities have detained 27 Indian fishermen and seized their five boats for illegally fishing in Pakistan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The fishermen were caught on Monday, said a Pakistan Maritime Security Agency spokesman, adding that a number of Indian boats entered Pakistani waters during the Eid holidays but a unit of the agency cleared the EEZ and seized five of the boats and detained 27 fishermen.

According to a PMSA handout, Indian fishermen continue to intrude into Pakistan’s marine-rich Indus delta region. It quoted the spokesman as saying that the detained Indian boats had entered 40 to 50 nautical miles inside Pakistan’s territorial waters.

Following their detention, the Indian fishermen were handed over to the Docks police on Tuesday.

“Well over 100 Indian fishermen have been arrested by the Pakistani maritime authorities during the current year,” said Mohammad Ali Shah, President of the Pakistan Fisher Folk Forum, repeating his call to both Pakistani and Indian authorities for some alternative measures to check illegal fishing instead of arresting each other’s fishermen.