Sri Lankan navy apprehends 51 Tamil Nadu fishermen

RAMESWARAM: The Sri Lankan navy apprehended 51 fishermen from Rameswaram and Poompuhar and seized seven boats on Wednesday night.
Around 500 boats sailed from Rameswaram on Wednesday night. Among them, six boats and 30 fishermen were held by Sri Lankan navy near Katchatheevu and were taken to Mannar, according to marine police sources at Mandapam.
A batch of 21 fishermen from Poompuhar, abroad a newly built boat, were apprehended by the Sri Lankan navy near Jaffna, said U Arulanandam of Alliance for Release of Innocent Fishermen.
With this, the total number of fishermen apprehended by the Sri Lankan navy has reached 72 since the arrest of 15 fishermen on September 1 and 2. Six fishermen were arrested on September 8.
The repeated apprehension of fishermen by the Lankan navy has caused despair in coastal areas here. “We even lost the drive to take out protests or demonstration. It appears that our entire fleet of boats may end up in Sri Lanka,” lamented S Emerit, a fishermen leader from Rameswaram.