KARAIKAL: As many as 14 fishermen from Karaikal district arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for alleged fishing near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), this past week returned home on Saturday night. According to sources, the arrested fishermen were taken to Karainagar in Jaffna district in Sri Lanka. After spending over two days in Sri Lankan custody, the authorities in Sri Lanka released them on Saturday afternoon. The fishers returned to Karaikal around 10 pm on Saturday.
Earlier, on Friday, 40 fishermen from Nagapattinam and Ramanathapuram district returned home after being released. There was a delay in releasing the Karaikal fishers as they were arrested and produced before a magistrate, while the fishers from Nagapattinam and Ramanathapuram districts were not charged and were released within 24 hours due to some alleged internal direction from Sri Lankan authorities.
The Karaikal fishers had to wait for some more time due to the legal process they had already been subjected to. Among the 14 Karaikal fishermen, two were from Samanthampettai and Keechankuppam in Nagapattinam, and the rest were from Karaikalmedu in Karaikal.
“The Puducherry government communicated with the Centre, which in turn reached out to Sri Lankan government. The Karaikal fishers were released soon after,” said R Kaviarasan, the deputy director of the fisheries department. He said that fishermen had been advised not to venture near IMBL after this.