The Krishna district police have rescued eight fishermen and their fishing boat in the Bay of Bengal off the Machilipatnam coast.
The fishermen, hailing from Uppada, near Kakinada, ventured into the sea from Gilakaladindi fishing harbour in Machilipatnam at 8 p.m. on May 8 ignoring the orders of the government authorities not to enter the sea in view of cyclone Asani. Sangadi Rambabu and seven others had hired the boat of Sk. Mohammad Ali of Machilipatnam.
Left discreetly
According to Krishna district Superintendent of Police Siddharth Kaushal, the group left for fishing discreetly without informing anyone. They lost their way due to the cyclone on May 9 and went about 100 km into the Bay of Bengal, he said.
Mr. Kaushal said that upon learning that the boat was missing on May 9, a search operation was launched and information was passed on to the Collector and SP of Kakinada, and the families of the fishermen were also informed.
Two teams were formed including officials from the police, marine police, coast guard, revenue and fisheries department for the search operation, he said. The missing boat was found on Thursday near Malakayalanka and the fishermen and boat were rescued and brought to Gilakaladindi harbour.
Mr. Kaushal said action would be taken against those who violated the rules and entered the sea for fishing, and a report on the incident would be sent to the government. Mr. Kaushal along with officials of revenue, marine police, coast guard, fisheries and others interacted with the fishermen.