NAGAPATTINAM: Three fishermen from from Vellapallam in Nagapattinam district were allegedly assaulted and robbed by unidentified Sri Lankans at the sea on Tuesday night.
According to sources, N Nagamuthu (38) and his colleagues N Murthy (36) and T Ravichandran (30) from Vellapallam from Thalaignayiru block went into the sea on their vallam boat on Monday afternoon. When they were fishing about 15 nautical miles near IMBL southeast of Kodiyakarai on Tuesday night, a group of unidentified people, allegedly from Sri Lanka, came on their fibreglass boat carrying weapons. They asked the fishermen to hand over their communication and navigation equipment. When the trio refused, the group attacked them.
Murthy suffered lacerations on his back while Nagamuthu and Ravichandran suffered internal injuries. The attackers took away the outboard engine of Nagamuthu's boat worth about `40,000, a battery, a torchlight and a signal light.
The fishermen, in a 10-hour ordeal, rowed back to the shore and reached Vellapallam on Wednesday morning. They registered a complaint with the Coastal Security Group about the assault and robbery. They later went to Vedaranyam Government General Hospital for treatment.
A case has been registered at the Marine Police Station in Vedaranyam.