Congress says fisherman's killing 'unprecedented', slams Centre

New Delhi: Describing the killing of a fisherman off the Gujarat coast as "despicable and unprecedented", Congress on Friday slammed the Centre for "failing to act decisively" in spite of repeated land and sea "transgressions by Pakistan".

"The killing of Gujarat fisherman in broad daylight by Pakistani forces is despicable and unprecedented... It is appalling that even after repeated land and sea transgressions by Pakistan, (the) government has failed to act decisively," senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said in a series of tweets.

Patel, who is the political secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and hails from Gujarat, said he had written to the Centre three months ago underlining the urgent need to strengthen Gujarat's coastal security but "there was no response".

At the AICC briefing, Congress General Secretary Shakeel Ahmed too targeted the government on the issue.

"The Prime Minister will be well advised to give an account to the people of India as to why after more than 900 ceasefire violations from Pakistan where scores of civilians have died, Pakistan is blatantly killing Indian fishermen near Dwarka in Gujarat," Shakeel Ahmed said.

The fisherman, identified as 40-year-old Iqbal, was killed in firing from an unidentified boat on his fishing vessel near the International Maritime Boundary Line off the Gujarat coast this morning, with the local fishermen association blaming the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency for the attack.