Sri Lankan navy arrests nine Tamil Nadu fishermen again

Pudukkottai / Rameswaram: Adding to the woes of the Tamil Nadu fishermen, the Sri Lankan Navy arrested nine more fishermen of Pudukkottai district along with their boats on charges of violating the International maritime boundary and allegedly poaching into Sri Lankan waters in the wee hours of Sunday.

The Island-Navy secured these fishermen while they were fishing at Analaitheevu near Katchatheevu in the Palk straits, reports reaching Pudukkottai and Rameswaram said.

The latest incident in mid-sea has come close on the heels of fishermen of six coastal districts of Tamil Nadu intensifying their agitation and withdrawing it temporarily after their bid to block the Karaikal port on Friday, to press the Central and State governments to take immediate action to get Sri Lanka release their impounded boats and the fishermen lodged in some jails in northern Sri Lanka.

After withdrawing their stir for now, fishermen resumed their fishing activities when they left by 643 mechanised boats on Saturday. Even as they were fishing in the Palk straits, Sri Lankan Navy personnel disrupted them and sought to chase them away, reports said, adding, several fishing nets were cut and allegedly thrown into the sea.

This forced the fishermen who had set sail from Rameswaram to return to the shore, when several Pudukkottai fishermen were apprehended.  

Official sources in Pudukkottai said that a group of fishermen from Jagathapatnam and Kottaipatnam hamlets in Pudukkottai District had ventured into the sea on Saturday.

They included S Vignesh (23), R. Palani (45), P. Manikandan (23), M. Selvanathan (35) R. Dilip (25), of Jagathapatnam and R. Kottaisamy (37), R. Merican (19) and M. Paramasivam (42) of Kottaiptanam.

When they were fishing near Neduntheevu, the Lankan Navy personnel surrounded them and arrested all the nine fishermen along with their two boats and took them to Kankesanthurai port in Northern Sri Lanka, the sources added.