NAGAPATTINAM: In a midsea clash that broke out between two fisher groups near Nagapattinam on Sunday evening, one fisherman was killed, his brother got drowned, and another brother was hospitalised with grievous injuries. Seven people were arrested on Monday for the murder. Search is still on to trace the man who drowned.
The clash broke out after a group of fishers on a trawler from Keechankuppam allegedly damaged the net of Akkaraipettai fishermen while fishing in the sea. When questioned about the incident, the Keechankuppam fishers rammed their trawler into the motor boat of Akkaraipettai fishers and assaulted them, sources said.
According to police, three brothers from Akkaraipettai — S Athmanathan (33) S Sivanesaselvam (25) and S Kalathinathan (21) — had left for fishing on a boat owned by their fourth brother S Santhosh from Nagapattinam on Sunday around 4 pm. They were fishing sardines around two nautical miles east of their village. Around 5.30pm, a mechanized boat (trawler) from Keechankuppam slashed through their net deployed in the waters. The infuriated brothers confronted them and an altercation broke out.
Cops deployed to prevent clash between villagers
“Around eight fishers hurled iron sinker weights of their fishing nets at us. They also rammed our boats with their trawler,” Athmanathan who suffered a fracture in his left arm told officials. “Our boat got upended in the impact and we sat on our capsized boat trying to stay afloat. But they again ruthlessly rammed their trawler into our boat and we lost balance and fell into the sea,” he said.
Athmanathan started swimming using his one arm towards the shore after the Keechankuppam trawler left the scene. He was rescued by a mechanized boat from Nambiyar Nagar around 9 pm. He was dropped at Nagapattinam at 11.30 pm. After Athmanathan shared his ordeal, other fishers of Akkaraipettai launched a search mission. They found Sivanesaselvam dead with injuries to his head amid the boat wreckage around 3am on Monday. Kalathinathan is still missing. Indian Coast Guard has also joined the search operation.
“The Keechankuppam fishers might have realised that they might have killed people. Fearing backlash at Nagapattinam harbour, they turned their boat towards Vedaranyam and landed at Arukatuthurai fishing harbour early on Monday,” a fisheries department official told TNIE.
Officials from fisheries, police and coastal security group later detained the Keechankuppam fishers but their employer and boat owner R Balakumar has gone underground. Balakumar was allegedly behind the wheel when the trawler rammed the Akkaraipettai boat, source said. “Balakumar may have moved on to another vessel on the way to Vedaranyam. We are on the lookout,” a coastal security group official said.
Meanwhile, Athmanathan is receiving treatment at Nagapattinam GH. A case has been registered at the Nagapattinam Marine Police Station. Further investigation is under way. Following the incident, dozens of police personnel were deployed in Akkaraipettai and Keechankuppam to prevent violence between the villagers. Sources said illegal trawling within five nautical miles from the shore affects the livelihood of small fishers and leads to deadly clashes.