TIRUNELVELI: The family members of 28 Idinthakarai-based fishermen, who had gone to Iran for fishing activities and were detained by the Bahrain Coast Guard, submitted a petition with District Collector Dr KP Karthikeyan during the grievance redressal meeting on Monday, urging the union government to take measures to ensure their release.
According to the petitioners, the fishermen, who had left for Iran on August 31, were apprehended by the Bahrain Coast Guard on September 11 for alleged violation of the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), and their two vessels were also seized.
"On September 26, the fishermen were presented before a local court, and sent back to prison after the hearing. On October 8 and 9, they were again produced before the court but were not granted bail. The next hearing is scheduled for October 24, and the government should take steps to ensure that they get bail, and are sent back to India," the petitioners demanded.
"At present, our families struggle due to extreme poverty as our sole breadwinners are in prison. We believe that with the government's intervention, they can get bail and return to India," they added.
Meanwhile, members of the Tirunelveli Rural Development Department Workers' Association, led by their president R Mohan, submitted a petition with the collector seeking action to disburse salary to the sanitation workers of Tirunelveli corporation, as per the schedule of rates released by the district administration. Currently, the corporation provided Rs 480 as daily wage instead of Rs 520, they pointed out.
Further, an 80-year-old Subbammal from Thachanallur submitted a petition demanding action against the officials concerned, who had cancelled her ration card citing that she had died, sources said.