VASCO: A Karnataka fisherman died while another is missing after their fishing operations went awry 15 nautical miles off Goa’s coast, on Sunday.
According to sources, one Manjunath Nayak (28) fell into the sea after his leg got entangled into the nets while fishing with his crewmates in their trawler ‘Durga Mata’.
“When Nayak started struggling, the trawler tandel Nagappa M (35) jumped into the sea to rescue him, but he himself began to struggle. The panic-stricken other crew started pulling back the fishing nets and managed to fish out Nayak alive, while Nagappa could not be traced,” informed a crew member, adding that Manjunath was injured in the accident.
As the crew members were taking Manjunath to Khariwado for medical aid, they were intercepted by a CISF patrolling party near the MPT.
After intercepting the crew, “The CISF personnel questioned them over their presence close to MPT operational area. The crew members pleaded with CISF personnel to allow them to take their injured crewmate life for medical aid immediately. But the inquiry by CISF personnel took over an hour, due to which Nayak died before reaching hospital,” said Simon Pereira, General Secretary of Goa Fishing Boat Owners’ Association.
Meanwhile, the Coast Guard has started an extensive search operation using helicopters, but they haven’t been able to trace the body of Nagappa.
