Andhra and Tamil Nadu fishermen in border fight; boats, huts set on fire

Chennai: About 3,000 fishermen from Andhra Pradesh landed in 400 boats to unleash brutal attacks on the fishing villages in and around Pazhaverkadu in Tiruvallur district, about 90 km north of Chennai, shortly after noon Saturday. Several houses were burnt and fishing boats set on fire, police said.

Additional superintendent of police Stalin, inspectors P. Raja Robert, Iyanarappan and SSI Elango received stab wounds while constable Ramamurthy suffered head injuries. They have been hospitalised.

Local fishermen did not suffer much as most of them had fled their homes Friday night after coming to know that the AP fishermen were planning the attack in retaliation to the beating up of a few fishermen of Nochikuppam by their counterparts of Chinnamangodu village. Following their alert, a large posse of about 200 policemen was posted in the region but that turned out to be inadequate to handle the brutal assault.

There have been frequent skirmishes between the fishermen of Nochikuppam and those in the nearby beachside hamlets over their fishing territories. Though Nochikuppam is situated inside Tamil Nadu and its people were all Tamils, they have been affiliated to the AP-based fishermen’s associations and that led to fishing disputes in the sprawling Pulicat Lake.

The Saturday attack started around noon with the huge flotilla of screaming AP fishermen from about 22 AP hamlets first landing at Chinnamangodu and quickly spreading to the nearby beachside villages, setting fire to the fishing crafts and houses. “They saw they outnumbered us and began attacking, despite our attempts to pacify     them. The rampage went on for about an hour. We were forced to withdraw”, said an officer.

Tiruvallur SP A. Saravanan told DC four of the six policemen injured in the attack have been hospitalised. Fisherman Kuppan from Nochikuppam was arrested and help had been sought from AP police to nab the remaining attackers, he said.

Collector Veeraraghava Rao said the situation had been brought under control and additional police force was rushed to the place. “We are taking this issue seriously. Those who indulged in this violence will not be spared,” he said.

With their menfolk still away for fear of attacks, the women in the Pazhaverkadu area are in a state of shock and fear. “All my relatives have been beaten up. Neighbours have left us fishermen. We are literally on the road as our houses have been attacked, burnt. Our lives and livelihood is under threat”, said S. Lakshmi, a villager.