A day after arresting eight Nagapattinam fishermen , the Sri Lankan navy has arrested 14 more fishermen, including 11 from Rameswaram and confiscated their three fishing trawlers in two separate incidents on charges of fishing in Sri Lankan waters.
The fishermen, who had set out on Saturday morning, were fishing on the high seas in the late evening when the Sri Lankan patrol crafts attached to the North Central and North naval command arrested them and confiscated their vessels, say reports.
Hours after the naval personnel, attached to the North Central naval command, arrested six Rameswaram fishermen and seized their trawler (IND TN 10 MM 375), when they were fishing near Talaimannar, a patrol craft attached to the North naval command arrested eight fishermen when they were fishing near Delft island.
The eight fishermen, five from Rameswaram and three from Kottaipattinam in Pudukottai district, were arrested and their two trawlers (IND TN 10 MM 554 and IND TN 08 MM 127) were seized. The navy has handed over the arrested fishermen to the fisheries department officials in Talaimannar and Jaffna for legal action.
Those arrested near Talaimannar are likely to be produced before Mannar court and those caught near Delft island at Kayts court in the evening after subjecting them to medical examinations, Mr U. Arulanandham, president of the Alliance for the Release of Innocent Fishermen (ARIF), said.
The Sri Lankan navy has now arrested 59 fishermen, including 17 from Karaikal and confiscated 10 boats, including two country boats since June 15 when the fishermen began the new fishing season ending the 61-day fish banning period, he said. More than 150 trawlers have been confiscated in Sri Lanka for several months.
Fishermen leaders expressed anguish that the arrests continued unabated despite Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami repeatedly taking up the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and condemning Sri Lanka’s provocative acts. It was unfortunate that the Centre maintained a stoic silence, they rued.
