3 Iranians Among 5 Arrested Off Gujarat Coast, Satellite Phone, Heroin Seized

While three fishermen from Iran and an Indian were on a boat which arrived at Okha coast, another Indian was on the coast to receive them.

Five men, including three Iranian nationals, were arrested from Okha town of Gujarat's Devbhumi Dwarka district allegedly with a satellite phone and 10 grams of heroin, police said on Thursday. While three fishermen from Iran and an Indian named Ashok Kumar Ayappan (37) were on a boat which arrived at Okha coast near the under-construction 'Signature Bridge' on Wednesday night, Ashok's younger brother Anand Kumar Ayappan (35) was on the coast to receive them, an official said.

Tamil Nadu native Ashok, who used to work in Oman, took help of these three Iranian fishermen to reach Gujarat coast as his passport was seized by his sponsor firm and there was no other way to come back to India, Superintendent of Police Nitesh Pandey said.

He identified the three Iranians as Mustafa Baluchi, Jashem Baluchi and Amir Hussain Baluchi, all residents of Bandar Abbas there, and said the five accused have been charged under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, The Passports Act and The Foreigners Act.