Pakistan releases 89 Gujarati fishermen from Malir jail

Pakistan set free 89 Gujarati fishermen today from its Mali jail.

The freed Indians were now on their way to the border city of Lahore from where they would head home to Gujarat.

The Superintendent of jail in Malir, Ghulam Qadir, said that the 89 fishermen were released and sent by two buses to the city of Lahore from where they will be handed over to Indian authorities at the Wagah border crossing.

Nasir Aslam Zahid, Chairman of the NGO Prisoners Welfare and Legal Aid Committee, told reporters that Pakistani authorities had granted consular access to another 33 Indian prisoners being held in Malir Jail.

They too will be released in the near future after the completion of certain formalities, he said.

The Indian prisoners released today were arrested between September 2009 and January last year, TV news channels reported.