Kollam (Kerala), Jun 4: The Food Safety Department in Kerala on Saturday seized around 500 kg of stale fish from fishing boats at Neendakara harbour near here and destroyed it.

The inspection conducted early morning under "Operation Matsya", was launched by the Kerala government to detect adulterated fish.

The food safety inspectors found around 500 kg of stale fish stored inside containers of the boats.

"Two squads of the food safety department conducted inspections today. We examined the boats and found stale fish. Samples have been collected and sent to the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology for testing," a senior official of the food safety department told the media.

The inspections were led by food safety inspector S Aji. The samples were collected to test the presence of chemicals in the fish.

The inspection was based on a tip-off that stale fish was being sold in areas around the harbour, sources said.

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New Delhi: There appears to be a glimmer of hope for Nimisha Priya, the nurse from Kerala on death row in Yemen, as report suggest Iranian officials may reach out to the family of Talal Abdo Mahdi, her former business partner, to seek a pardon through blood money. Priya was sentenced to death for Mahdi's murder.

The 37-year-old nurse is currently imprisoned in Sana’a, the Yemeni capital, which is under the control of Iran-backed Houthis.

A report by The New Indian Express published on Friday stated that discussions are underway to gain the victim's family’s support in seeking a pardon. “It’s a relief of sorts. Iran officials could use their good offices with Houthis for the reach-out with family of the victim. Some cash has been arranged for blood money and talks are on to get the family on board to seek pardon, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed,” a source told the publication.

It is learnt that using an appropriate intermediary equivalent of Rs 30 lakh has been kept ready, the report added.

Hailing from Kollengode in Kerala’s Palakkad district, the nurse was found guilty of murdering the Yemeni citizen in July 2017. She was handed capital punishment by a trial court in 2020 while Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council upheld the verdict in November 2023.

Mahdi, reportedly died from an overdose of sedatives allegedly injected by Priya to retrieve her passport from him.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the Indian government is extending all possible help in the matter. “We are closely following the developments around the sentencing of Nimisha Priya. The government is extending all possible help in the matter,” he said last week.