The Night of October 8, a Gujarat Police team embarked on an extraordinary mid-sea pursuit aboard a trawler, eventually arresting three men wanted for the gangrape of a 50-year-old woman.
According to the FIR filed at Navabandar Marine Police Station, the crime took place on October 1 in a coastal village of Gir Somnath district. After identifying the accused—men in their 20s—the police learned they had fled to sea, working as labourers on fishing trawlers.
Inspector N.N. Rana, who led the operation, said the team had to act discreetly. “We knew they were on two trawlers, so we planned to intercept them without alerting anyone,” he said. With approval from Superintendent of Police Jaydeepsinh Jadeja, two marine police teams set out.
To draw the trawlers back toward shore, police sent out a fake storm alert, warning nearby boats of “bad weather.” The ploy worked. As one trawler turned around, police intercepted it mid-sea and arrested two accused; the third was caught on another vessel soon after.
“This was the first time Gujarat Police tracked and arrested accused 25 nautical miles into the sea,” SP Jadeja said.
In the remand plea filed on October 10, police stated that the woman was assaulted between 6:30 p.m. on October 1 and 4 a.m. on October 2. The accused allegedly lured her on the pretext of giving her a ride home, rendered her unconscious, and raped her at one of their homes.
The victim approached police after a local acquaintance returned from sea and urged her to file a complaint. The court has granted the Gir Somnath police a three-day remand of the accused.