Mangaluru: An appalling incident unfolded as fishermen returning from their fishing expedition were assaulted, and fish worth lakhs of rupees were looted, approximately 10 nautical miles away from the Kaup Light House on the morning of January 30.

Parvathayya Kondayya, a fisherman, sustained severe injuries during the assault, while Raghuramayya, Shivaraj, and Sheenu suffered minor injuries.

On January 27, a trawl boat owned by Mohammad Mustafa of Mangaluru set out for fishing with six fishermen of Andhra origin. However, on their return journey on January 30, seven to eight men from a purse-seine boat named Hanuma Jyothi forcibly boarded the trawl boat. They seized control of the fish boxes and transferred them to their boat.

The fishermen attempting to resist were subjected to physical assault, and in addition to the theft of valuable fish, the assailants also took away four mobile phones.

A complaint has been registered at the Kaup police station.