The role of outside players in the attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen was being probed by the Indian Navy, said Commodore Amar K Mahadevan, Naval officer in-charge Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Commodore Amar K Mahadevan made the remark during a media briefing along with Rear Admiral Atul Kumar Jain, the Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Fleet, Eastern Naval Command, on board INS Satpura.
His remarks come at a time when Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has already raised the issue of Tamil fishermen being attacked by the Lankan navy personnel in Indian waters with the Centre. Mahadevan observed that the attack was not happening in the Indian waters. “I have never come across attacks on fishermen on this side of International Maritime Boundary Line. They may be fishermen versions of the incident,” he said.
When asked about the repeated attacks on fishermen from the State, Mahadevan reiterated that the attacks did not happen in Indian waters, according to his information.
"We have been taking measures to ensure that our fishermen stay in our waters by warning them. We have a navy warship patrolling the Palk Bay stretch 24x7 and 365 days along with a Coast Guard ship, in addition to the Unmanned Ariel Vehicle (UAV) surveillance. When our warship is present, no one dare attack our fishermen on our waters. Besides, we also raised the issue of fishermen attacks with Sri Lankan navy last week. They had denied attacking any fishermen. We are looking into who the outside players are, if at all. We are at it,” he said.
The Rear Admiral said fishermen often crossed over the IMBL due to ignorance. “We face a similar issue in Gujarat as the fishermen cross over to the Pakistani waters inadvertently. Claims of attacks on the fishermen are not completely true.”
Asked why the navy could not protect the fishermen, Mahadevan maintained that the navy’s patrolling was limited to the IMBL.
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