Government urged to do more to help ex-servicemen imprisoned in Indian jail

The men, all ex-soldiers and half of whom have links to East Yorkshire, were jailed last October when the US-owned anti-pirate vessel they were aboard strayed into Indian waters.

The families will hand in a petition with 143,000 signatures to Downing Street in the hope that it will trigger a Parliamentary debate.

Carol Anne Edmonds, from Keyingham, near Hull, mother of one of the arrested men, former Army sniper Ray Tindall, said: “It’s about time something is done, I just want my son home, we’ve had promises from MPs and now we need to see action.

“I want more than anything, for the British government to support us and help get the men out of prison.”

A sergeant with the 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh and The 1st Battalion Yorkshire Regiment, Mr Tindall left the Army last April after 17 years’ service.

Don Towers, father of Paul Towers, an ex-member of the Parachute Regiment, of Pocklington, said: “What would you do if it was your son? I will do everything I can to get him out.”

The men were among 35 crew aboard the MV Seaman Guard Ohio, a vessel protecting merchant ships from pirates, when it was intercepted by the Indian authorities.

They have since been detained in Puzhal Prison in Chennai on charges including firearms offences and illegally entering Indian territorial waters.

Secretary General of The Mission to Seafarers, the Rev Andrew Wright, said “This has been a deeply traumatic experience for everyone involved here at home and in India. There have been conflicting stories about what has happened all the way along, but we do know that the ship and crew had just come off duty protecting merchant shipping in the Gulf.

The dangers of modern day piracy are very real, and more and more shipping companies are recruiting their own security vessels to protect them. We call again upon the Indian government to act swiftly and for the government here to take notice of the petition that shows clearly that the British people want them to do more.”