Five Indian seafarers, who were kept under judicial custody at Iran’s Chabahar Central Jail, are set to return to India on Friday. They will arrive in Mumbai from Tehran via an Iran Air flight, news agency ANI reported citing sources.
Aniket Sham Yenpure, Mandar Milind Worlikar, Naveen Singh, Pranav Kumar, and Thamizhselvan Rengasamy were in judicial custody in Tehran without any charges as investigations were completed by authorities in Chabahar and Konark, Sistan and Baluchestan Provinces in Iran. They were in custody for 403 days.
India’s Embassy in Tehran provided boarding and lodging to the seafarers on the direction of the Delhi High Court to the Centre. Prior to that, they were at the mercy of local samaritans.
Puneet Singh Chandhok, the President of the Indian World Forum, had raised the issue of the seafarers with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 12, 2021, sources told ANI.
Local court rules them innocent
In its judgement on March 8, 2021, a local court in Chabahar, a port city in Iran, ruled the defendants innocent. The court also ordered their immediate release. The sailors were released from prison on March 9, 2021, and taken to the nearby city of Konarak for completing formalities.
Though the seafarers were handed their belongings, they were not handed back their passports and identity documents, including their Continuous Discharge Certificate-cum-Seafarer’s Identity Document (CDC) by the local authorities, sources told ANI.
A petition was then filed by the family members of seafarers at the Delhi High Court through the legal counsel Gurinder Pal Singh. They sought legal assistance from the Indian authorities as well as the issuance of a document to prove their identity.
The repatriation of seafarers is facilitated by the Indian World Forum and the cost is being borne by the Indian government, said Chandok.
(With inputs from ANI)