TIRUCHY: Fifty Tamil Nadu fishermen from Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam and Pudukkottai, who were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on different occasions, were released by Lankan courts on Friday. While four other fishermen were fined, one more was jailed.
The development comes amid External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s day-long visit to the island nation and a week after Chief Minister M K Stalin met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and personally requested him to take steps to get the arrested Tamil fishers released by Sri Lanka.
Jaishankar is the first foreign dignitary to visit Sri Lanka since the National People’s Power (NPP) government led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake came to power on September 23.
The official handle of the Indian High Commission in Colombo said in a post on X, “50 Indian fishermen from Mayiladuthurai, Pudukottai and Nagapattinam have been released today (Friday) and will be repatriated from Sri Lanka to Tamil Nadu later this week.”
Of the released fishers, 37 are from Mayiladuthurai and they were arrested near Neduntheevu on September 21. One mechanised boat and two country boats were also seized. On Friday, after their remand period had ended, the fishers were produced before the Paruthithirai court. The judge ordered the release of all 37.
On September 18 and 20, four mechanised boats and 18 fishermen from Pudukkottai were detained (also near Neduntheevu) and 13 of them were released on Friday by the Oorkavalthurai court. Of the remaining five, four were fined 13 lakh Sri Lankan Rupees each and one fisher — who had previously been caught crossing the border illegally — was sentenced to 18 months in jail.