PUDUKKOTTAI: Bodies of four fishermen, who died in the Sri Lankan waters, were brought to Kotaipattinam harbour in Pudukkottai on Saturday. The four fishermen – A Mesiya (30), B Nagaraj (52), S Senthilkumar (32) and N Samson Darwin (28) – had set sail from Kottaipattinam on January 18, but did not return the next day. Their bodies were found by the Lankan Navy.
Fishermen in Pudukkottai alleged that the four fishermen were killed by the Lankan navy. All the four hail from Ramanathapuram. Health Minister C Vijayabaskar, Collector P Uma Maheshwari and SP L Balaji Saravanan paid respects to the fishermen on Saturday. The bodies were sent to Ramanathapuram by road.
Vijayabaskar said, “We took this to the attention of Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami. The Chief Minister will be sending a stern message to the Indian Embassy to ensure that such incidents do not happen again.”
Palaniswami has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the bereaved families. He also announced a government job for a family member of each of the dead, and compensation for the boat. He also condemned the action of the Sri Lankan Navy and said that he would write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking probe into the matter.