Thoothukudi: Seven fishermen from Threspuram here, who were arrested by Sri Lankan Navy on a charge of straying into Lankan waters on December 21 and released by the government of the island nation as a goodwill gesture, reached home on Wednesday.
Inspector of Fisheries (Thoothukudi) T. Vijayaraghavan, who received the fishermen at Karaikal after being repatriated from Sri Lanka, told The Hindu that they had set out to the sea in a country boat at 7 a.m. on December 16. They were brought to Karaikal along with 45 other fishermen in Indian Coast Guard Ship ‘Sagar’ around 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
After interrogating them and completing formalities, the officials set them free around 7 p.m. The seven fishermen from Threspuram – G. Victor, V. Ajith, P. Vinoth, W. Praveen, P. Amalan, J. Vetrivel and P. Libo – were brought to Thoothukudi at 2.15 a.m. on Wednesday, Mr. Vijayaraghavan said.
Immediately, they were taken to the camp office of Collector M. Ravikumar. The fishermen thanked the government officials for their efforts in securing their release.
