NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, MARCH 10
The Sri Lankan Navy has arrested 22 fishermen, including two from Puducherry’s Karaikal district, 13 from Nagapattinam district and seven from Pudukkottai district in Tamil Nadu in the early hours of Sunday ‘for trespassing’ into Sri Lankan waters after crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).
The fishermen, who had left from the Karaikal fishing harbour together on a boat, were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy near Neduntheevu on charges of trespassing while fishing.
- The arrested fishermen were taken to Kankesanthurai Naval base
- Annamalai, Vasan seek Centre’s intervention to release fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan Navy
Sources from the fisheries department of Karaikal said, the boat IND-PY-PK-MM-1380 left with 15 fishermen from the Karaikal fishing harbour on March 6 at 4 pm. The arrested fishermen were taken to Kankesanthurai Naval base.
The Pudhukkottai fishermen had set sail on two mechanised boats bearing the registration numbers IND TN08 MM 0054 and IND TN18 MM 1862 from the Jegathapattinam fishing harbour on March 9.
The fishermen from the Karaikal were S. Kandasamy (43) and P. Sundaramurthy (44).
The apprehended Nagapattinam fishermen include V. Kishore (29), S. Naveen (22), S. Kalidas (34), P. Ananda Pal (50), R. Pulavendiran (42), A. Sriram (24), K. Kaviarasan (34), A. Singaram (33), R. Madan (25), C. Naveen Kumar (18), S. Senthil (35), R. Anburaj (39) and R. Rajkumar (23).
The arrested Pudhukkottai fishermen are identified as S. Kaliappan (53), P. Akilan (18), P. Kodi Mari (65), S. Sheikh Abdullah (35), K. Thangaraj (54), A. Jayaraman (40) and S. Saravanan (24).
BJP state president K Annamalai and Tamil Maanila Congress president GK Vasan on Sunday sought Centre’s intervention in the release of arrested fishermen.
In a statement condemning the arrest, Vasan said the Centre should immediately hold talks with the Sri Lankan government and ensure release of the arrested fishermen and the captured boats. He also called for the Centre and the State governments to take continuous measures to ensure safety of the fishermen.
Meanwhile, Annamalai wrote to Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar requesting the intervention of the Ministry to facilitate the early repatriation of the detainees and the release of their fishing boat.
Tamil Nadu coastal police authorities said that the fishermen along with their mechanised boats were taken to the Kankesanthurai Naval base.
Tamil Nadu fishermen welfare association general secretary MR Mariappan said, “There is no end in sight for our woes. The fishermen are not able to go to the seas and we strongly urge the state and central governments to take this up at a diplomatic level and to ensure that fishermen fish peacefully in the seas.”
