11 fishermen arrested for attacking turtle patrol vessel

The marine police on Friday arrested 11 sea-going fishermen on the charge of attacking a turtle patrol vessel in prohibited seawaters of Odisha's Gahirmatha sanctuary, injuring six forest personnel, an officer said.

The forest patrol vessel had been attacked by the crew of a fleet of about eight fishing trawls, illegally fishing at the prohibited seawater on March 16.

The attackers had damaged the patrol vessel, endangering the lives of around a dozen personnel of both the forest and police wing, police said.

Despite being provoked, the patrolling crew had acted in utmost restraint and did not open fire in self-defence, police said, adding that the arrested fishermen were later remanded to judicial custody.