Five fishermen of Rameswaram were injured when Sri Lankan Naval personnel allegedly attacked them on Friday with wooden logs in the mid sea near the International Maritime Boundary Line between Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar.
The front portion of the mechanized boat [TN-10-MFB-595] suffered damage when a patrolling vessel of the Sri Lankan Navy hit the boat.
While Edison, Merin, Raju and Anthoni suffered bruises, N. Mathiazhagan (47) of Rameswaram fractured his hand in the incident.
He has been admitted to the Government Hospital in Rameswaram and others received treatment locally.
The fishermen said they had slowed down the boat when the Sri Lankan Navy personnel signalled them to stop it.
The personnel, who got into the boat, beat them with wooden logs available in the boat.
“Indiscriminate attack”
“When we were fishing about 8 to 10 nautical miles from Rameswaram, a Sri Lankan Navy ship approached us. Around 10 crew members, who were seen with naval uniform, got into our boat by stopping it through violent manner. They contended that we [fishermen] were in Sri Lankan waters. They attacked us indiscriminately with the wooden logs and iron bowl used for collecting fish,” Mathiazhagan told The Hindu , who is recuperating at the Government Hospital in Ramanathapuram.
Security agencies, including “Q” branch, Intelligence Bureau, Coastal Security Group police, fisheries officials and others carried out enquiry with them about the incident.
