Sri Lankan Navy arrests 14 Rameswaram fishermen

Hopes of trouble-free fishing season dashed: fishermen

The fishermen conflict in Palk Bay has resumed right at the beginning of the fishing season. Around 5 p.m. on Monday, the Sri Lankan Navy arrested 14 fishermen, all from Rameswaram, and three boats, while fishing 10 nautical miles north off Talaimannar. They were indulging in bottom trawling in Sri Lankan waters, Commander A.I. P. De Silva, spokesperson of the Navy, told The Hindu on Tuesday. “The arrested were produced before a magistrate in Mannar and remanded to custody till June 12,” said Albert Justin Soysa, president of the Mannar District Fishermen’s Federation in the Northern Province.

Special Correspondent writes from Chennai:

Writing with a deep sense of anguish, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that a permanent solution must be found to the fishermen problem through a decisive initiative.

It comes two months after the previous spell of arrest in which 37 persons were picked up in Kankesanthurai