Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu) : Sri Lankan Navy arrested four Indian fishermen and confiscated a mechanized fishing trawler for unlawful poaching in their territorial waters on Monday midnight. Tamil Nadu fisheries officials said here on Tuesday that the arrested fishermen hailed from Rameswaram and were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Naval personnel when they were fishing close to the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). Around 2,000 fishermen had set sail into the sea from Rameswaram fishing jetty yesterday morning for fishing activities. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Navy claimed that the apprehension was made in seas South of the Delft Island during a patrol carried out by them to curb illegal fishing activities of foreign fishermen in the Island nation’s waters. The Indian poaching vessel and its fishermen were taken to Mailadi fishery harbour and would be handed over to the Fisheries Inspector of Jaffna, through Sri Lanka Coast Guard for onward legal action, the Navy said. This was the eighth incident of arrest of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy so far this year. With this, 100 Indian fishermen and 14 fishing trawlers were taken into captivity by Lanka for unlawful poaching in its waters. Meanwhile, leaders of various fishermen associations appealed to the Central and State governments to take necessary steps for the release of all the arrested fishermen.
- Latest
