Kendrapara: Personnel from the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary arrested 14 fishermen, including two sexagenarians, and seized a trawler for fishing inside the “No Fishing Zone” in the wee hours of Thursday.
All 14 fishermen were booked under Sections 27, 29, and 31 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and are punishable under Section 51 of the same Act.
They were later produced before the JMFC Court in Rajnagar, which remanded them to judicial custody.
Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary Ranger Pradosh Moharana stated that the fishermen were unlawfully trespassing into Satabhaya and were catching fish when forest personnel intercepted the trawler and arrested them.
He said six VHF sets, two GPS sets, one fish finder, three nets, and 17 quintals of marine fish catch were seized from the possession of the arrested fishermen.
UNI
