Even this humanitarian gesture needed the cover of darkness. For if the rescuers ran into the Pakistani Navy, they would have landed behind bars along with the very fishermen they set out to rescue.

Several Indian fishermen perished in the stormy Arabian Sea, but few have survived to recount how they hung to anything that was floating, spent hours on forsaken islands, and lived on leaves, roots, and sea water.

One of them is Chhaganbhai Lallubhai Tandel of this tiny village in Valsad district. He not only survived the titanic waves but also came back from "the jaws of death" after he and 10 others found themselves in Pakistani territory on May 20.

After the fishing boat carrying him sank, it was sheer grit and luck that saved him.After fighting the waves for several hours, a boat rescued him. This boat got stuck on an island.

"The moment I saw them (Pakistanis), I thought they would kill me," the 30-year-old, who had heard enough stories of how Indian fishermen were tortured in Pakistani jails, said.

"But they were very kind. Offered us cigarettes, tea and biscuits. We could not communicate, for we did not understand each other's language. But during the 90 minutes or so we spent together we shared a feeling of brotherhood," Tandel recalls with gratitude. Neither Chhagan nor his Pakistani counterparts knew that hostilities had developed in Kargil when they were together.

Tandel and nine other Indian fishermen were dropped near Koteshwar on the night of May 21. They were rescued from there the next morning by an Indian Navy helicopter.

In-charge collector of Valsad district D B Rehbar said fishermen had told officials about the incident and that there was no need to verify it. "The fact that they are back alive is more thanenough," he said.