COLOMBO/NAGAPATTINAM/KARAIKAL: The Sri Lankan navy on Thursday night detained 86 Indian fishermen and seized 10 trawlers for allegedly poaching in the island nation’s waters.
Sources said, the 86 people included 52 fishermen from Karaikal fishing villages and 34 from Nagapattinam villages. They were detained in two separate incidents.
In the first incident, as many as 52 Karaikal fishermen on February 22 ventured in seven mechanised trawlers from Karaikalmedu, Kasakudimedu, Kottucherrymedu, and Kilinjalmedu villages. They were detained by the Lankan navy while fishing about 110 nautical miles southeast of Nagapattinam coast.
In the second incident, about 34 fishermen from the coastal villages of Tarangambadi and Akkaraipettai in Nagapattinam districtventured in three mechanised trawlers on February 24. They were detained by the Lankan navy while fishing about 130 nautical miles southeast of the Nagapattinam coast.