For representational purposes (Photo | EPS)
NAGAPATTINAM: As many as 21 fishermen from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy near Kodiyakarai on Monday night for allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line.
The arrested fishers hail from Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Villupuram districts and Puducherry’s Karaikal. Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday wrote to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar seeking “a permanent solution” to the issue through “tangible mechanisms”. He asked the Centre to help secure the immediate release of the fishers and their boats from SL custody.
At around 8 pm on Monday, a crew of 12 fishers — 11 from Nagapattinam and one Mayiladuthurai — was fishing on a mechanised boat about 15 nautical miles from Kodiyakarai when they were reportedly apprehended by the Lankan navy. Later, a crew of nine was arrested while fishing near Kodiyakarai. Of the nine, three are from Karaikal, five from Mayiladuthurai and one is from Villupuram district. Both vessels were taken to Myliddy fishing harbour in Lanka’s Jaffna and impounded on Tuesday. The fishers were remanded to judicial custody till February 7.
In his letter, Stalin said, in December 2021, 68 TN fishers were arrested and recently released by SL. “Prolonged incarceration of our fishers in jails is subjecting them and their families to untold misery and many of them are being pushed into poverty in the absence of their breadwinner,” he said.
PMK asks Centre to aid their release
Chennai: PMK on Tuesday condemned Sri Lanka for arresting 21 Tamil fishermen when they were fishing mid-sea near Kachchatheevu. In a series of tweets, PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss condemned Lanka for arresting 21 fishermen of Nagapattinam district and confiscating two of their fishing boats. He urged the Union government to take steps to release the fishermen and retrieve hundreds of their fishing boats, which were confiscated by the SL Navy.
