The Indian Navy has dismissed allegations of beating up fishermen from Gujarat, who had strayed into a high security area off Bombay High last month.

“We took their papers, but did not assault them,” said the Navy after fishermen had lodged a complaint with the Vanakbara police station about an assault on them by a team of Offshore Defence Advisory Group (ODAG) comprising personnel from the Navy, Coast Guard and the intelligence units. The team was patrolling the area on a tugboat owned by public sector undertaking Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

However, according to the fishermen’s complaint, the ODAG men had summoned the crew of each of the six fishing boats to Samudrika III, after which they were all beaten up badly with wooden clubs.

One of them, Kanji Chudasama, is still recuperating from a rib cage injury, while another, Darti Raja, has lost his hearing after the assault. Several others of the 40 fishermen allegedly beaten up by ODAG men are still unable to resume work, said sources.

According to the case details, on September 14, six boats from Diu with 40 fishermen on board were apprehended around 20 nautical miles off the Diu coast by a tugboat named Samudrika III, an Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) vessel. The vessel was leased to ODAG, comprising men from Navy, Coast Guard and IB.

On Friday, Capt Manohar Nambiar, Chief Public Relations Officer (Defence), Mumbai, said: “The documents were seized from them (fishermen) for entering an oil rig area by ODAG. But the charges of physical assault are baseless.” Capt Nambiar said ODAG is essentially a wing under the Navy’s control.

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