New Delhi: India is in touch with the UK High Commission in New Delhi as well as the UK Foreign Office regarding the arrest of Indian merchant navy master Captain Ajay Pant in the United Kingdom, and is doing its best for his safety and well-being, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Tuesday.
“We have been in touch with the lawyers of Captain Pant as well as his family. The High Commission has paid several visits to Captain Pant to check on his well-being. We have also facilitated the visit of his family members, his wife in particular,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during the bi-weekly media briefing.
The Indian High Commission in London has been extending consular assistance to Captain Pant, who is in judicial custody in the UK.
“The last such visit by his wife took place on 9th of November. We have been in touch with the UK High Commission here as well as the UK Foreign Office in this particular matter. We are trying to do our best for his safety and well-being,” Jaiswal said.
Pant, a resident of Uttarakhand, was reportedly arrested in June after British forces and the UK’s National Crime Agency intercepted the oil tanker Smyrtos, which he was captaining, in the English Channel.
He has been charged with offences related to sanctions on Russian oil, which carry a maximum prison term of 10 years. Pant was the only one of the 24 crew members on board to be charged, and he has denied any wrongdoing.
He is being held at HMP Winchester, and his trial is expected to begin on December 15.
His wife, Ritu Pant, has maintained that her husband was made a scapegoat and was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
(IANS)
