Rediff Impact: 29 Indian sailors released in Iran

Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar's report secures the release of 29 Indian fishermen from an Iranian prison.

On Sunday, December 30, morning, 29 Indians, who were in Iranian custody, were released. They had been detained since October 10.

The Indians were fishing on a boat owned by their Qatari employers when they were detained by Iranian coastal security for straying into Iranian waters.

Last Monday, Rediff.com published a report about the fishermen's detention in Iran, a nation that counts India as one of its few friends in the world today.

A senior official at the Prime Minister's office, who was appraised about the report, assured Rediff.com that he would speak to the Iranian government and do the needful.

He was true to his word.

On Sunday morning the 29 Indian fishermen were released and are currently at the Indian mission.

"They will soon be back on the fishing boat," the delighted skipper of the Qatari boat, Captain Shirin, told this reporter in a telephone conversation from Iran.

"We will sail for Qatar once they are here, and from there we can come back to India. Yesterday, I received the release papers for both my men and my boat," he said.

The boat had been moored on an island off the coast of Iran with their skipper since October. The fishermen were taken to a local prison.

"Our people are in our consulate," Shirin added. "The consular officials said they would themselves bring the men to the boats."