RAMANATHAPURAM: The Sri Lankan Navy captured eight Rameswaram fishermen and their boat in the wee hours of Tuesday for the alleged violation of IMBL. The arrested men were taken to Thalaimannar and a Sri Lankan court remanded them in judicial custody till September 5.
Official sources said around 430 fishermen from Rameswaram ventured into the sea on Monday night. The North Central Naval Command of the SL Navy allegedly spotted a cluster of fishing boats in Sri Lankan waters. The patrol unit captured one of the boats and chased away the rest of them.
The confiscated boat had Kingson, Mekkans, Raj, Innasi Raja, Sasi, Mariappan, Adimai and Muniyaraj onboard. The island nation’s navy has so far seized 46 Indian trawlers and arrested 341 Indian fishermen for IMBL violation this year.
Fishermen’s associations have condemned the unabated arrests of Indian fishermen by the neighbouring country and have demanded that the union government take immediate action towards bringing back the fishermen and retrieving their boats. Tiruchy MP Durai Vaiko also issued a statement condemning the arrest.
National president of All India Fishermen’s Congress S Armstrong Fernando said, “The continuous arrests prove that the union government is incapable. Over the past 10 years, hundreds of fishermen and their boats were caught by the Sri Lankan Navy.
Yet, the centre took no action to retrieve the boats. We urge the union government to resolve this long-pending issue urgently.” He also requested the union government to provide Rs 50 lakh compensation to the boat owners for each trawler that was seized and nationalised by Sri Lanka.
CM writes to centre again
Expressing serious concern over the arrest of eight fishermen, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday urged External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to expedite the diplomatic efforts to secure the release of the total 116 fishermen and 184 boats which are in Lankan custody now. In his letter, Stalin said the alarming recurrence of such incidents has caused immense distress to the families of the arrested fishermen and has further exacerbated the livelihood issues faced by Indian fishermen.