Hyderabad: As many as 609 Indians are imprisoned in Pakistani jails, according to a right to information report (RTI) reply.
The high commission of India in Islamabad gave this information in response to an RTI which also sought details about how many Indians are imprisoned in Pakistani jails.
The RTI was filed on December 12, this year by Robin Zaccheus an RTI-activist from Hyderabad. In a reply, the high commission stated “as per the information available with the mission, there are 609 prisoners. Out of 608 prisoners, 51 are civilians and 558 were fishermen as of July 1, 2021.” There is a possibility of the number has increased or decreased by now.
Zaccheus took to his Twitter account and asked when the prisoners will be released from the Pakistani jail.
The RTI comes in a gap when twenty Indian fishermen were released from the Landhi district jail in Karachi on November 14 after completing their four-year prison terms for allegedly fishing illegally in Pakistani waters and was handed over to the Indian authorities at the Wagah border on November 15, a senior prison official said.
Earlier this year, Pakistan has arrested 17 Indian fishermen and confiscated their three boats for allegedly straying into the country’s territorial waters.