RAMANATHAPURAM: The Sri Lankan Navy seized two boats carrying nine Indian fishermen for alleged violation of the IMBL near Delft Island on Tuesday, and remanded them in Sri Lanka till August 6. According to sources, 497 boats from Rameswaram had ventured into sea on Monday.
Official sources from the SL Navy said the Northern Naval Command had deployed Fast Attack Craft (FAC) to chase away a cluster of Indian boats spotted in Lankan waters. The seized boats, along with the fishermen, were brought to Kankesanthurai Harbour and will be handed over to the Mailadi fisheries inspector for further legal proceedings.
Fisheries department officials in Ramanathapuram said the arrested fishermen were identified as Sahaya Robert (49), Yacob (24), Muthuramalingam (65), Radha (44), Sekar (40), Harikrishnan (50), Pon Ramaraj (26) and Ramkumar (24) of Rameswaram and Libin sai (25) of Kanniyakumari.
Emerald, a leader from the fishermen community of Rameswaram, said, "In the last few weeks since revoking the annual fishing ban, 83 fishermen, including 25 country boat fishermen, have been arrested by the SL Navy. The Indian fishermen arrested in July are yet to be released. The fishermen's association had urged the union government to take steps towards releasing them and the confiscated boats."
Including this recent apprehension, the SL Navy seized a total of 37 Indian boats and apprehended 261 Indian fishermen poaching in Lankan waters in 2024. It is to be noted that last week, fishermen led by the DMK and Congress staged a massive protest condemning the arrest of fishermen by the SL Navy.
"All these protests do not bear any solution for the fishermen. Instead of just writing to the union government, the state government should provide compensation for the confiscated boats. Even though the fishermen are released, the boats remain in Sri Lanka," Emerald added.
Reportedly, an official from the fisheries department in Ramanathapuram said that a mechanised fishing boat of one Arokia doss of Thangachimadam got damaged due to a collision among the fishing boats during the patrolling of SL Navy near IMBL.