The 23 Tamil Nadu fishermen, who were apprehended on June 20 when they were fishing in the Sri Lankan waters, have been released. They will reach their homes in Pamban on Thursday [June 30]. Orders for their release have been issued and the fishermen have been shifted to Mannar so that they could set sail for Pamban on Thursday.
“The fishermen will leave Sri Lanka early on Thursday and are expected to the reach the IMBL [International Maritime Boundary Line] by 10 a.m.,” Indian Consul General in Jaffna, V. Mahalingam said. “They will be escorted by the Sri Lankan Navy till the IMBL from where the Indian Coast Guard will take over,” he added.
The fishermen are now with the North Central Naval Command of the Sri Lankan Navy and will leave for home at 8 am from Talaimannar.
The Sri Lankan Navy had apprehended the fishermen on charges of encroaching and poaching in the Sri Lankan waters on the night of June 20. The Navy said that the fishermen were taken into custody along with five fishing trawlers by SLN Sea Units on patrol in the seas north of Mannar in North-western Sri Lanka.
