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Grand jury indicts Indians for hijacking Cuban boat

A US grand jury has indicted two Indian nationals and a Pakistani on charges of hijacking a Cuban government boat in Cuban waters, US prosecutors have said.

Gurpreet Singh, Baljeet Singh and Mohammad Shevaz Chaudhry, who are seeking political asylum in the United States, were charged with conspiracy to hijack an international vessel, hijacking an international vessel and violence against the crew, the Miami US Attorney's office said yesterday in a statement.

Prosecutors said the defendants hired Cuban nationals Roberto Lima-Cutino and first mate Jesus Serantes-Garcia in Cuba for a day of fishing and left Hemingway Marina in Havana on July 9 aboard the fishing boat 'Born Free', which belonged to the Cuban government. Within the territorial waters of Cuba the defendants attacked the crew, beating the first mate with a club and stabbing him with a broken bottle, prosecutors said. They took control of the boat and set a course for Miami, but the vessel's engine quit in rough seas. They radioed for help from a passing sailboat, prosecutors said.

When the US Coast Guard reached the boat adrift in the Florida Straits about 64 km south of Key West, Florida, on July 10, the five men on board were injured, prosecutors said, and were taken to Key West for treatment. Prosecutors said the Singhs, from India, and Chaudhry, from Pakistan, faced 20 years in prison on each count. Their ages and hometowns were not immediately available.

The Cuban crewmen had asked to be repatriated to Cuba. The Florida Straits are a frequently travelled route for illegal migrants -- often Haitian or Cuban -- trying to reach US shores and for smugglers attempting to slip illegals past border patrols.

UNI

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