Eight fishermen of Pudukottai district were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy while they were fishing in the mid-sea near ‘Neduntheevu’ in the late hours on Thursday.
While five fishermen hailed from Jagadapattinam coastal village, the remaining three were from Kottaipattinam coastal village.
Coastal Security Group sources told The Hindu that the eight fishermen set sail on board two mechanised boats from Jagadapattinam and Kottaipattinam villages on Wednesday morning.
The Kottaipattinam fishermen S. Nagamuthu (43), R. Ayyamuthu (37) and N. Ramamoorthi (44) - were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy about 35 nautical miles from Kottaipattinam at around 10 p.m.
In the other incident, five Jagadapattinam fishermen – Ganesh (23), Madhan (20), Poobalan (45), Satheesh (30) and Archunan (45) were detained by the Sri Lankan Navy about 33 nautical miles from Jagadapattinam at around 11 p.m.
The detained fishermen along with the two boats were taken to Kankesanthurai naval base in the island nation by the Sri Lankan Navy for further inquiry, the sources said adding that they would produced in a court there.
