NAGAPATTINAM: A total of 22 fishers from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy in the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday for allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line.
Among the arrested fishermen, 13 are from Mayiladuthurai, two each from Nagapattinam and Pudukkottai and one each from Ramanathapuram, Cuddalore and Chennai. Two others are from Karaikal. S Uthirapathi, a fisher representative from Pudukkottai said, “We are declaring a stoppage of fishing activities in Jegathapattinam on Monday in condemnation of the arrest of our fishers and the seizure of our vessels.”
In the first incident, two boats were seized and seven fishermen from Pudukkottai, Mayiladuthurai, Ramanathapuram and Chennai were arrested. According to sources, they were part of a group of around 70 mechanised boats that left from Jegathapattinam harbour on Saturday morning. They were fishing near Neduntheevu around 8.30 pm when a group of personnel from the Sri Lanka’s eastern naval command appeared in a fast interceptor craft and confronted the trawlers.
They rounded up two of the trawlers and apprehended six fishers in one of the vessels. When the navy tried to apprehend all the crew members in another boat, the fishermen escaped by jumping into other vessels, leaving only the boat owner behind. Naval personnel then took the two boats and the seven fishermen to Sri Lanka.
The navy also apprehended another group of 15 fishers in a mechanised boat from Karaikal post midnight. The group of fishers from Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Cuddalore and Karaikal had left from Karaikal fishing harbour early on March 6. When they were fishing southeast of Point Calimere, the navy apprehended them, sources said.
The navy handed over the arrested fishermen to the Sri Lankan fisheries department.