RAMANATHAPURAM: The Sri Lankan Navy seized a mechanised fishing boat and arrested three Indian fishermen from Rameswaram for alleged violation of the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) early on Tuesday. The detained fishermen have been remanded in judicial custody till April 1.
Fisheries department sources said over 400 fishing boats from Rameswaram ventured into the sea on Monday. While they were chased away by Sri Lankan patrol units, one boat with three fishermen was caught off Deft Island.
They were handed over to the fisheries inspector of Mailadi, Jaffna, for legal proceedings.
A fisheries department official said the boat is owned by V Kennedy of Thangachimadam. Meanwhile, fishermen’s associations condemned the arrest. They urged the union government to take immediate action to secure the release of the arrested fishermen and retrieve the confiscated boats.
Condemning the arrests, they announced a one-day strike on Wednesday. Fishermen’s association alleged that over three months, more than 120 fishermen from Rameswaram were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy in 2025.
It may be noted that the fishers in Rameswaram went on an indefinite strike in February, lasting over a week, condemning the arrests of Indian fishermen.
Secure release of 110 TN fishers: CM to Jaishankar
Chennai: Bringing to the attention of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar the tenth incident of the arrest of TN fishers by the Sri Lankan Navy on Tuesday, Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed serious concern about the recurrence of such incidents.
The CM said in his letter that the arrests have pushed their families to the brink of poverty. Stalin urged the Union minister to “make effective diplomatic efforts to prevent further arrests and to secure the release of all the 110 TN fishermen still in custody along with their fishing boats from the SL authorities at the earliest”.