In a mid-sea attack on two mechanised boats from Tharuvaikulam in Thoothukudi district, high sea robbers stole over 3.50 tonnes of premium seer or king fishes, popularly known as ‘vanjiram’ worth more than ₹35 lakh, off Kanniyakumari coast on Saturday morning.
When mechanised boat ‘George 4’ of Tharuvaikulam was returning to its base with 10 crew and driver Charles after week-long stay fishing in the high seas, the robbers, who had come in 15 fibre glass boats, intercepted the mechanised boat in the guise of fishermen even as the larger vessel was beyond 10 nautical miles off Kanniyakumari coast. As the sea was rough at that time, the robbers could easily stop the slowly moving mechanised boat, boarded the vessel with weapons and assaulted Mr. Charles first in a bid to halt the boat, police said.
“The robbers, who were carrying lethal weapons like machetes, swords and knives, threatened everyone in our boat. They seized our mobile phones and assaulted us. After thrashing us for a few minutes, they looted our priceless catches, all premium ‘seela’ or ‘vanjiram’ (seer or king fish). They looted over 3 tonnes of seer fish from our cold storage and loaded the booty in their fibre glass boats before fleeing. We immediately alerted our boat owner Michael George about the robbery,” said Mr. Charles.
