The Sri Lankan Navy arrested four more fishermen from Rameswaram and seized their trawler on charges of poaching in the Sri Lankan waters in the early hours on Sunday.
The four fishermen, part of the 3,000 fishermen who set out for fishing on Saturday morning, were fishing south west of Delft Island when the Sri Lankan Navy arrested them, reports said.
After the Navy handed over the fishermen and the trawler to the Jaffna Fisheries Inspector, they were produced before the Magistrate Court in Kayts and remanded to judicial custody in Jaffna prison till June 16.
This is the third instance of the Sri Lankan Navy arresting Indian fishermen after the new fishing season began on May 30 at the end of the 45-day ban period.
The Island nation has so far arrested 15 fishermen and seized three trawlers.
It arrested seven Rameswaram fishermen on May 31 and four fishermen belonging to Kottaipattinam in Pudukottai district on June 2.
The latest arrest comes a day after Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s second letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi within a week, urging him to secure the release of the arrested fishermen.
Fishermen are upset that the Sri Lankan Navy continued to arrest them even after Ms Jayalalithaa took up the matter with the Prime Minister.
The fishermen had great hopes of trouble-free fishing in the new fishing season after the recent meeting between Mr. Modi and Sri Lankan President Maithiripala Sirisena in New Delhi.
However, the hopes of both the leaders have been dashed, an association member said.
The fishermen from Rameswaram have been remanded in judicial custody
till June 16
