Kuwaiti to file theft case against Indians to recover his boat

Abdullah Al-Sarhid, member of the Kuwaiti Fishermen’s Union submitted a report to the Fahaheel Police Station accusing three expatriates of seizing his private cruiser and escaping with it to their country.

In a press conference held yesterday, Al-Sarhid said that he will approach the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a complete file to recover the boat and prosecute those accused of the theft, in his words, “ my boat is worth 35 thousand dinars, and I will get it back through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

Al-Sarhid denied rumors that the defendants had not received their salaries for two years, or that he had mistreated them and withheld their passports, stressing that this was completely untrue and mere fabrication.

He stressed that Kuwait is a state of institutions and laws, and there are parties that protect the rights of the worker which the 3 expatriates could have turned to, but they escaped from the court’s ruling and stole the boat, which was worth more than 35 thousand dinars. He also alluded to the necessity of establishing a deterrent international punishment for anyone who is tempted to commit crimes and escape in this way.

He pointed out that the police in the expatriate country arrested the three fugitives, and they contacted him via four video calls, listened to his testimony, and charged the fugitives with two charges: stealing a boat, fleeing a country, and entering another country illegally.

Meanwhile in India, the undetected arrival of the Kuwaiti vessel in Mumbai is viewed as a significant lapse on the part of the Navy and Coast Guard. The defense forces have always claimed that they scan seas thoroughly and their aircraft maintain vigil in the sea. But they had no answer as to how the Kuwaiti vessel could come so close to Mumbai from Kuwait without getting detected.

The three expatriates in question hail from Kanyakumari, they were apprehended on Tuesday morning near Prong’s Lighthouse off Mumbai for travelling in a Kuwaiti vessel without permission, police said on Tuesday. They were intercepted by the crew of the Chaitrali patrol boat from the Yellow Gate police station and were handed over to Colaba police.

Deputy commissioner of Police, Ports, Sanjay Latkar said, “Our vessel was on patrol on Tuesday morning and found three persons in a Kuwaiti boat. We brought them to the shore. They claimed that they were from Kanyakumari and worked for a company in Kuwait. They decided to run away as they were not paid and not given food for nearly two years. Their passports have been confiscated by their owners. They navigated with the help of a GPS and it took ten days to reach Mumbai. Our crew checked them and handed them to the Colaba police.”

The trio claims that they were checked twice en route to Mumbai. Language barriers hindered communication with the Colaba police, as the three individuals were unable to converse in Hindi, Marathi, or English.

Despite regular patrols by Naval and Coast Guard Dornier aircraft, as well as the Navy’s P-8i aircraft, and the vigilance maintained by Navy and Coast Guard helicopters, the vessel managed to slip through unnoticed. Naval sources initially claimed to have first intercepted the vessel at Prongs Lighthouse before alerting the police. However, DCP Latkar countered this, asserting that the vessel was halted by the police who then notified the Navy.