Thirty-two fishermen who had gone for fishing in eight mechanised boats from Jegadapattinam on Monday, were arrested by Sri Lankan naval personnel.
They were scheduled to return home on Tuesday.
Fishermen of Jegadapattinam who were staying away from fishing since February 13 as a token of solidatiry for firming up the second round of talks with the Sri Lankan fishermen representatives, however, resorted to fishing since last week.
The fishermen were arrested late Monday evening, said Kuttiyandi, president of Jegadapattinam fishermen welfare association.
Those arrested were Veeradas (26), Veerakumar (23), Subbiah (45), Vivek (18), Sivaperumal (55), Murugan (55), Mariappan (40), Babu (28), Ganesan (45),
Chinnaiyan (50), Chandran (55), Kannappan (60), Mukilan (18), Prakash (25), Vignesh (23), Jayabal (50), Sannasi (40), Babu (40), Idumban (60), Pandi (30), Sakthi (25), Pazhaniyandi (55), Kamalavel (30), Parthiban (20), Prabakaran (19), Tamizhselvan (29), Panchavarnam (60), Prakash (26), Senthil (32), Sriramu (18), Sathishkumar (18) and Arumugam (40).
PTI adds:
Commenting on the arrest, Sri Lankan fisheries ministry spokesman Narendra Rajapaksa said the Indian fishermen had violated accord reached during January’s bilateral fishing talks to stop bottom trawling.
