PUDUKKOTTAI: Sri Lankan Navy on Wednesday arrested 10 fishermen, including a 15-year-old, from the district while they were fishing near Neduntheevu. Their two mechanised boats were confiscated and taken to Karai Nagar Port in Sri Lanka.
According to sources, around 900 fishermen of Jegathappattiam had ventured into the sea in 270 mechanised boats on Wednesday morning and were expected to return on Thursday morning. But, except two, all other boats returned to the shore. Soon, the functionaries of the Jegathappattinam fishermen association launched a search operation to trace the boats and 10 fishermen on board. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan fishermen informed them that seven fishermen of Jegathappattinam were arrested by a Sri Lankan Coast Guard patrol team and Sri Lankan Navy from Northwest of Delft Island near Neduntheevu in the Sri Lankan waters. The fishermen and boats were taken to Karainagar.
The arrested were identified as Manikandan (19), son of Kaththavarayan, Rajendran (21), son of Ramu, Mani (50), son of Govindhan, Kaliyamoorthi (20), son of Chinnaiyah, Prabu (15), son of Mani, who ventured into sea in a mechanised boat owned by Muthukumaran. Govindhan (50), son of Kannan, Guna (40), son of Balamurugan, Karthick (20), son of Vijayendran, Suthan (21), son of Vijayendran and Azhagesan (19), son of Muthupandi, ventured into the sea in Vijayendran’s boat. They were arrested while fishing 39 nautical miles from Jegathappattinam jetty and were handed over to the Assistant Director of Fisheries, Jaffna, said the Lankan Navy website.