Trio arrested for illegal entry from Kuwait were on 'no-fly list', Mumbai Police tell court

Three men who were arrested for illegally entering India on a boat from Kuwait were reportedly on Kuwaits nofly list Mumbai police told a local court on SaturdayThe police sought extended custody of the accused while the defence claimed they were held captive by their employer in Kuwait resulting in their passports being confiscated newswire PTI reportedThe accused persons lawyer however claimed that the men who had travelled to Kuwait for work were held hostage by their employer and their passports had been confiscatedThe metropolitan magistrate has extended till February 12 the police custody of the three accused arrested under the Passport Entry into India RulesAs per information shared by the consulate in Kuwait the accused were on the countrys nofly list and their custodial interrogation was needed to verify this the police informed the courtThe police said they were still investigating the GPS route of the boatAccording to the police while they have procured the boats route from Alibag a coastal town 90 km from Mumbai they have not been able to get the route before it reached AlibagThe trios advocate Sunil Pandey however argued that this was their employers doingHe claimed eight others had travelled with the accused to Kuwait for employment and were also stuck there with the same employerAll these Indian nationals were held hostage and their passports were seized by their employer The three accused had the courage to escape Pandey said adding that custodial interrogation was not required as the trio were cooperating with the investigationRead more Kuwait boat probe Trio took KuwaitSaudi ArabiaOmanPakistan route before entering Indian shores Mumbai Police sayThe men hailing from Tamil Nadu were arrested on February 7 and were in police custody till SaturdayThe city police had found the boat near Gateway of India in south Mumbai on February 6Nitso Ditto 31 Vijay Vinay Anthony 29 and J Sahayatta Anish 29 were found in the boat and later arrestedThe trio had claimed that they had travelled to Kuwait for work two years ago but were allegedly mistreated by their Kuwaiti employerThey fled the country on January 28 on their employers boat and reached Indian shoresAlthough the police had said no immediate evidence of wrongdoing was found onboard the vessel the circumstances raised red flags regarding potential maritime security breachesThe accused have claimed that they sailed from Kuwait to India via Saudi Arabia Dubai and Pakistan and eventually arrived in Mumbai after intending to return to their home stateAnthony and Anish belong to the coastal town of Kanyakumari and Ditto is a native of Ramnathpuram 250 km from KanyakumariAccording to the police the trio claimed that they worked in Kuwait for two years in harsh conditions which prompted their escapeTheir passports had been confiscated by their employer and they alleged irregular payment of wages and physical assaultThe boat upon inspection revealed no signs of explosive materials and police have recovered a GPS device from the vessel to trace the route taken by the three to reach Mumbai With inputs from PTI