NHRC notice to Defence Ministry, K'taka govt over 'missing' fishermen

The NHRC has sent a notice to the Defence Ministry and the Karnataka government over reports that seven fisherman were "missing" more than four months after their boat disappeared off the western coast.

Reportedly, the India Navy "stopped the search operation" after finding the wreckage of the vessel 33-km west-south-west off the coast of Malvan in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district, the NHRC said in a statement.

"The NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that more than four months after the disappearance of Suvarna Tribuja, a fishermen boat, from Udupi in Karnataka, the seven fishermen (who were) on board it are still missing," it said.

The boat had left for a deep sea fishing expedition off the coast of Goa on December 16 last year, the NHRC said.

The commission has issued a notice to the chief secretary to look into the content of the news report and take immediate steps to redress grievances of relatives and family members of the missing fishermen.

The rights panel ..