MELBOURNE, 21 January 2023: Indonesia’s ‘VOI’ has reported on Thursday (19 January 2023) that six Indian nationals (from Punjab & Gujarat) were arrested by police in the waters of Rote Nadao NTT, currently at the police headquarters. Out of the six Indians, five seem to be from Punjab and one from India’s Gujarat state. An Australian maritime patrol intercepted their boat at Ashmore Reef and after four days detention turned them back to Indonesia.
Indonesian cops say these six arrested foreigners suspected of being from India included Gurjot Singh, Satnam Singh, Karamjit Singh, Aman Singh, Satinder Pal Singh and Harshadkumar Natvarlal.
“I have received this information, and it is informed that the six foreign nationals were secured by the local police at 09.00 WITA local time,” said the Head of the Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Marciana D Jone, to ANTARA in Kupang, Thursday, January 19.
He explained that currently the foreigners suspected of being Indian citizens have been at the Rote Ndao Police Headquarters … From the results of the preliminary examination, it was found that the six foreigners suspected of originating from India boarded a ship from Sulawesi and were suspected of being related to human smuggling.
They departed from Sulawesi and then arrived at Pasir Island, and were secured by officers at the security of Australian waters. They were detained for four days by local security officers, he said. After four days, the six foreigners were then sent back to Indonesian territory and ended up stranded on Rote Ndao, ” he added.
In addition to securing the six foreigners, the local police also arrested four crew members (ABK) from South Sulawesi. “The four Indonesian citizens from South Sulawesi include Zakir Daeng Lewa, Gasali, Daeng Sijaya and Maks,” he added. Regarding whether this case is related to human smuggling, his party is still conducting further investigations.”
