KOCHI: British navy seized two Indian fishing vessels, both operating from harbours near Kochi, and arrested its crew on May 11 for illegally entering and fishing in the waters near Diego Garcia , the heavily guarded naval base, run jointly by the British and American forces. Owner of the boats came to know of this only on Saturday afternoon, when one of the captains rang him from Diego Garcia.Diego Garcia and the nearby islands are part of British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), controlled by the UK. Since December 2014, British navy had detained 10 Indian fishing vessels, owned by fishermen from Thoothoor in Tamil Nadu."Both the boats – Joshva and Joshva 1 – are owned by Selvadhason Rajappan. Between these boats there were 23 crew members. These boats left Kochi on April 11 and was caught in BIOT waters a month later. After five days in captivity, Shiji, the captain of Joshva 1 rang Rajappan from a phone number in Diego Garcia," said P Justin Antony, founder president, Tamil Nadu Fishermen Development Trust (TN FIDET). He also said that he had informed the district collector and the fisheries officials of the happening.Almost all of the arrested fishermen are from Thoothoor in Tamil Nadu, except two Xaviers, who belonged to Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala. Others are: Benitto Lazer, Teego Sam Michael, Tharsis Joseph, Lubert Joseph, Reny, Sebin Deniston, Sajin, Saji, Vijay, Xavier, Antony Dhas, Shiji Athanas, Victor Augustin, Shibu, Thankappan, Thason, Thadeuse Vincent, Tony, Deniston, Vinoth, Sutheer, Silvestor.Thoothoor fishermen, well known for their seafaring ability, started exploring waters near Diego Garcia only in last December. Lying two thousand kilometres from Kochi, the BIOT waters have abundant fish stock which includes high value species like tuna and shark, favourites among the exporters. Spending nearly Rs 5.5 lakh on food, fuel and ice, these fishermen manage to catch 10 tonnes to 12 tonnes of fish during a trip which takes 9 days to reach Diego Garcia. Owner takes 50 per cent of the proceedings from the auction while the rest is divided among the crew.