Sri Lankan navy arrests 10 Tamil Nadu fishermen

RAMANATHAPURAM: The Sri Lankan navy arrested 10 Tamil Nadu fishermen and seized their three boats on charges of fishing in the territorial waters of the island nation.

These fishermen were arrested when they were fishing in the sea north of Mannar and off Neduntheevu on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

The three mechanised fishing boats belonging to A Muniyendhiran, Soosai Viyakulam and D Aldrin set sail from Rameswaram fishing harbour with 10 fishermen onboard on Wednesday.

On late Wednesday night, Sri Lankan navy personnel spotted Muniyendhiran’s boat with four fishermen onboard in the sea north of Mannar. They arrested the fishermen.

Similarly, Sri Lankan navy personnel spotted two boats in the sea off Neduntheevu in the early hours of Thursday. They arrested six fishermen onboard the two boats. The boats belong to Soosai Viyakulam and D Aldrin.

The arrested fishermen have been identified as M Jothirajan, 60, K Ramu, 60, M Arul George, 61, and A Kennedy, 64, of Rameswaram, R John Muthukumar, 41, N Loveson, 52, R Paul Raj, 55, S Don Bosco, 60, and L Antony Raj, 45, of Thangachimadam, and M Antonyselvan, 51, of Tuticorin.

Four fishermen in Muniyendhiran’s boat were handed over to fisheries officials in Mannar. They were produced before a court and remanded in judicial custody till March 7. They were lodged in a Vavuniya prison.

The six other fishermen were handed over to fisheries officials in Jaffna. They were produced before an Oorkavalthurai court and remanded in judicial custody till March 4. These six fishermen were lodged in Jaffna prison.

Chief minister M K Stalin wrote to external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar on Thursday, urging him to take diplomatic efforts to secure the immediate release of all the arrested fishermen and their fishing boats from the Sri Lankan authorities.

“The number of apprehensions of fishermen from Tamil Nadu by the Sri Lankan navy has rapidly risen in the past few months and immediate and continued diplomatic action has to be taken to stop these apprehensions as the livelihood of the fishermen and their families are affected for long periods of time,” Stalin stated in his letter.

“At this juncture, I would once again like to reiterate the need for convening a joint working group meeting to find a permanent diplomatic solution for this persistent issue,” he added.


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