On Day I of New Season, 33 Fishermen Arrested by Lanka

On a day when the fishing activities resumed after the 45-day ban period, the Lankan navy arrested 33 Indian fishermen from midsea in the wee hours of Sunday.
On Day I of New Season, 33 Fishermen Arrested by Lanka

RAMANATHAPURAM: On a day when the fishing activities resumed after the 45-day ban period, the Lankan navy arrested 33 Indian fishermen from midsea in the wee hours of Sunday.

Sources said that as many as 770 mechanised boats had ventured into sea on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Lankan navy personnel surrounded a group of fishermen on seven boats near Katchativu, and arrested 33 persons from Rameswaram and Thankatchimadam. The detenues were taken to Thalaimannar, and would be produced before a court on Monday.

Meanwhile, fishing association leaders lambasted the wanton abduction and said that despite the change in government, the plight of the fishermen had not changed.

According to Bose, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Coastal Mechanised Boat Fishermen Welfare Association, “Wanton attacks by the Lankan navy on innocent fishermen from Tamil Nadu continues even after a change in government at the Centre. How can the fishermen venture into the sea after knowing that they are not safe?”

The recent detentions came in the wake of the recent visit of the Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi at New Delhi.

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