Body of missing Indian fisherman retrieved, two others remain in Sri Lankan custody

Indian fishermen allege that the Sri Lankan Navy vessel had deliberately crashed into the Indian fishing boat, with the intention of sinking it. 

Chennai: The mortal remains of an Indian fisherman from Tamil Nadu, who went missing at sea on Monday, have been retrieved on Wednesday noon. The boat he was on-board had collided with a Sri Lankan vessel in the Palk Strait, the waters between India and Sri Lanka. Two other Indian fishermen who were on the same fishing boat(now sunken) are in Lankan custody since Monday. The two fishermen and the mortal remains of the third fisherman are expected to be repatriated by Wednesday night.

It is said that the three fishermen who belonged to Kottapattinam in Tamil Nadu’s Pudukottai district, were fishing in the areas adjoining the Delft Island in the Palk Strait. The two fishermen who were rescued and are in Sri Lankan custody are identified as Xavier and Sakunthran, and the deceased person is Rajkiran. As a mark of solidarity, the fishing community based out of Kottaipattinam had not ventured out to sea on Wednesday.

According to an earlier statement from the Sri Lankan Navy, they rescued two Indian fishermen from a sinking Indian fishing boat that was “poaching” in Sri Lankan Waters across the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), on Monday.  The Lankan Navy maintains that while they were chasing away Indian fishing boats, a boat that was attempting to evade had collided with a Navy craft, which eventually led to the sinking of the Indian boat.