14 Somali pirates,3 Yemenis freed after 7 months in jail

The government withdrew the case following testimony from Yemen embassy officials via the Central government.

According to reports,Yemen embassy has testified that all of them as innocent. They were lodged at Junagadh district jail for the past seven months.

“Following withdrawal of charges,the court observed they had drifted to Indian shore by chance and had no intention to commit any crime,” said Sakanpara.

In June last year,following interrogation by 14 different agencies,an FIR under Passport Act and Foreigner’s Act was registered against them at the Una police station.

The Yemenis had reportedly told the police that the pirates had hijacked their boat after firing upon them.

The Junagadh police did find bullet marks in a boat that was also seized.

The court has also ordered to release the boat and all the other belongings of 17 foreign nationals.

The boat had run out of fuel and drifted towards the coast in high tide.

The pirates were released since nothing incriminating had been recovered from their possession during interrogation by various security agencies,police sources said.