MAYILADUTHURAI: The Sri Lankan Navy arrested a total of 14 fishermen from Tamil Nadu in the early hours of Monday for allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and fishing near Analaitivu in the Sri Lankan waters.
The arrested include 13 fishermen from Mayiladuthurai and one from Cuddalore. The arrested fishermen have been identified as Rajendran (32), Sivadas (20), Kulandaivel (27), Ranjith (30), Raj (30), Kalai (30), Gugan (28), Prasad (32), Akilan (27), Akash (27), Robin (29), Rajkumar (30), Govind (40) from Mayiladuthurai and Barathi (40) from Cuddalore.
While reportedly fishing in the waters near Analaitivu on Monday, the Sri Lankan Navy intercepted the vessel and arrested all 14 fishermen on board and the arrested fishermen were later taken to Kankesanthurai in Sri Lanka for further procedures.
According to sources, the fishermen had originally set out to sea on November 3 from the Tharangambadi Fishing Harbour in a mechanised boat. The crew, consisting of 14 fishermen, began their routine fishing expedition.
However, during the early hours of November 4, their boat developed a mechanical fault near Jegathapattinam. With the help of local fishermen, the crew managed to tow the vessel ashore for repairs. After fixing the issue, the fishermen resumed their journey from Jegathapattinam Fishing Harbour on November 8 before being caught by Sri Lankan Navy.