NAGAPATTINAM: Two Sri Lankan fishermen, who arrived at Siruthalaikadu near Point Calimere on Tuesday after their boat ‘capsized’ owing to rough weather early on Monday, were arrested. The two persons were identified as V Janarthanan (29) and K Sasigaran (22) of Palaly in Jaffna district.
“Janarthanan and Sasigaran claimed that they had set out for fishing on Sunday evening. Their boat drifted across IMBL into Indian waters due to rough weather and capsized around 3 am. These said they held on to large fuel cans and moved close to Indian shores after 30 hours,” an official from Coastal Security Group told TNIE. The two persons claimed that they had even requested some Tamil Nadu fishermen on mechanised and motorised boats to take them onboard, but in vain.
Local fishers from Siruthalaikadu noticed the two persons in the sea near Indian shores, took them onboard their motorised boat and brought them to their village. S Semban, a fishermen representative from Siruthalaikadu told TNIE, “The two men looked tired. They claimed that they swam for several nautical miles. We offered them food and water and also alerted the police.” CSG officials and Intelligence interrogated the two fishermen and took them to the marine police station in Vedaranyam in the afternoon.