Less than a week after arresting five fishermen from Pudukkottai, the Sri Lankan Navy on Monday arrested another 10 fishermen hailing from Rameswaram and confiscated their trawler on the charge of poaching in Sri Lankan waters.
The fishermen, who had set out from the fishing jetty here on Monday, were reportedly fishing on the high seas, south of Delft island in the night, when the ‘fast attack craft’ of the Sri Lankan Northern Naval Command arrested them.
After the Navy handed them over to the Assistant Director of Fisheries, Jaffna, they were produced before the Kayts Court and remanded in judicial custody at Jaffna Prison till February 21, said U. Arulanandham, president, Alliance for the Release of Innocent Fishermen (ARIF).
Since the release of 51 fishermen by the Sri Lankan authorities on January 17, the Navy has continued to carry out arrests of Tamil Nadu fishermen whenever they trespassed into the island nation’s waters, and has thus far arrested over 30 fishermen hailing from Pudukkottai and Rameswaram.
Condemning the arrest, P. Sesu Raja, a leader of the fishermen community, claimed that the arrested fishermen had drifted into Sri Lankan waters after their vessel developed a technical snag, adding that the Navy arrested them even as fishermen on another boat tried to tow them back into Indian waters.
He said the Centre should prevail upon the Sri Lankan government to secure the release of all the arrested fishermen, along with over 100 trawlers which have remained anchored at Sri Lankan ports for more than a year. “The Central and State governments must take steps to protect the livelihood of the hapless fishermen,” he demanded.
