KARAIKAL: A total of 18 fishermen from Puducherry and Tamil Nadu who ventured into sea from Karaikal in a mechanised boat on Sunday night were arrested by the Sri Lankan navy early on Tuesday for alleged poaching. The fishermen have been remanded in judicial custody until December 10. Of those arrested, 15 are from Puducherry’s Karaikal while two are from Nagapattinam. The other fisherman is from Mayiladuthurai.
According to sources, the group of 18 fishermen, after staying put at shore for nearly two weeks owing to restrictions enforced by the fisheries department, put out to sea from Karaikal fishing harbour around 8 pm on Sunday.
In the wee hours of Tuesday, the group along with several others in different boats was fishing southeast of Kodiyakarai (Point Calimere) when a team of SL personnel from the Northern Naval Command apprehended them, sources said. The SL navy alleged that the fishers had crossed 30 nautical miles from the International Maritime Boundary Line and was fishing near Veththalakerni of the island nation’s Jaffna.
Seizing their boat and catch, the SL navy, subsequently, directed the 18 fishermen to the Kankesanthurai naval base where they were then handed over for further legal proceedings. The arrested fishermen were produced before a magistrate at Point Pedro who then sent them to the Jaffna prison.