KARAIKAL: On the day when Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who is on his maiden Indian visit, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the island nation repatriated 18 Indian fishermen, arrested for allegedly crossing the IMBL this month.
The fishermen, including 15 from Karaikal, two from Nagapattinam and one from Mayiladuthurai, who were released on Monday reached Karaikal the next day.
The group had ventured into the sea in a mechanised boat from Karaikal fishing harbour on December 1. During the early hours of December 2, personnel from Sri Lankan Navy confronted them when they were fishing a few nautical miles southeast of Kodiyakarai.
The Lankan Navy apprehended the fishermen and handed them over to the authorities. The court in Point Pedro remanded them in judicial custody at Jaffna prison until December 10.
The fishers were released on December 13 and handed over to the Indian Consulate. They were deported from Colombo to Chennai on Monday via flight. After reaching Chennai International Airport around 6 pm, they returned to Karaikal by road on early hours of Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the mechanised boat seized by the Sri Lankan authorities remains in Lanka.