The Sri lankan Navy on Thursday arrested ten fishermen from Tamil Nadu who were fishing in the island nation’s side of the International Maritime Boundary line. The incident comes within days after the Rameswaram fishermen alleged that the Indian Coast Guard fired at them injuring two fishermen who have been admitted to Ramanathapuram district hospital for treatment.
Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the Coast Guard firing at fishermen from the State and sought the latter’s intervention to avoid recurrence of such incidents.
On Thursday, the Sri lankan Navy caught hold of the fishermen from Nagapattinam district who were fishing near Neduntheevu, a territory belonging to the island nation. According to Gangadharan, assistant director of fisheries, the fishermen were arrested by the Sri lankan Navy for poaching from their territory.
“The fishermen were taken to Kankesanthurai in northern Sri lanka and their trawler seized,” said the official. On Tuesday, fishermen more than 1,600 fishermen from Tamil Nadu were forced to return to their hamlets after the Sri lankan Navy allegedly snapped the fishing nets of 25 trawlers which were fishing near Katchatheevu.
The Indian Coast Guard refuted the charges by the Rameswaram fishermen that they were fired at.
The Coast Guard in a release said the CG vessel which was patrolling the region objected to paired trawling undertaken by the fishers who instead of stopping the illegal fishing chose to ran away from the scene. The release said though the fishermen had charged that they were fired at with rubber bullets, the Coast Guard does not use the rubber bullets.