Within a day of firing gun shots at a mechanised boat carrying Indian fishermen and injuring one occupant, Sri Lankan Navy personnel allegedly beat up five fishermen of Karaikalmedu village near here in mid-sea a few nautical miles away from the earlier scene of incident off the Kodiakarai coast.
The fishermen, Kasinathan, Chitravel, Chandrakumar and Murugaiyan, all in their 40’s, were admitted to the Karaikal Government Hospital with bruises and swellings all over their bodies and faces. The remaining fisherman Prakash escaped with mild injuries.
On reaching the Karaikal shore on Friday morning, the injured fishermen told the media that the Sri Lankan Navy had attacked them indiscriminately after tying up their hands and legs and sprayed chilli powder on their faces. They had left the Karaikal coast in a mechanised boat on March 2.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Sri Lankan Navy personnel reportedly confiscated their fish catch and the nets. According to the fishermen, the attackers spoke in Sinhalese while taking away their material, but had abused them, using Tamil expletives while attacking them.
In the earlier incident, the attackers had reportedly thrown the catch back into the sea and destroyed the fishing nets.