Sri Lankan Navy arrests 22 Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu’s Ramanathapuram district, seizes 2 boats
The Hindu
The Sri Lankan Navy personnel had detained the Indian fishermen under charges of poaching into their waters.
In yet another fresh incident, the Sri Lankan Navy personnel arrested 22 fishermen from Pamban and Thangachimadam in Ramanathapuram district on charges of poaching and impounded two country boats, on Saturday.
According to official sources in the Fisheries Department, the Sri Lankan Navy personnel had detained the fishermen under charges of poaching into their waters. It is said that the country boat fishermen were allegedly fishing at Parithithurai, which falls under Sri Lankan waters.
Denying it, fishermen leader Rayappan, who is also the president of country boat fishermen association, told media persons that the Sri Lankan Navy had been arresting mechanised boat fishermen. Now, even the country boats, which cannot go beyond five or 10 nautical miles, were also being held.
The fishermen associations have condemned the arrest and claimed that it was factually incorrect to say that the country boat fishermen had crossed the IMBL, they said.
According to reports available here, the detained fishermen were being taken to Jaffna Port and handed over to the Sri Lankan Fisheries Department authorities for further legal action, official sources said.
Appeal to Centre
At a time, when the mechanised boat fishermen have been pleading with the Union government to help bring back the arrested fishermen from Sri Lanka, the fresh arrest of 22 more fishermen had come as a rude shock, said P Jesu Raja, fishermen association leader. “We are hoping for a permanent solution as our livelihood is deeply hit,” he added.