Rameshwaram: The Sri Lanka Navy has arrested 9 fishermen from Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu for allegedly fishing across the maritime border. The Navy has also confiscated his boat. This action was taken near Katchatheevu island.
According to the Coastal Security Group police, the arrested fishermen were part of a group of 297 fishing boats that had entered the sea without formal permission from Rameshwaram port on August 12. The seized boat is registered in the name of IND TN 10 MM 329 Wellington, which is said to belong to P. Wellington, a resident of Dhanushkodi Raja Nagar.
The arrested fishermen were identified as J. Janathan (45), A. Anthony Pichai (38), K. Vellaichamy (51), M. Prabhu (43), Erogya Geniston (25), P. Stevin (30), M. Don Bosco (55), V. Erogya Devin (31) and Subbaiah (52). The Sri Lanka Navy has taken all of them to Thalaimanar Naval Camp for questioning.
Earlier on August 6 also, Sri Lanka Navy had arrested 11 Indian fishermen near Nendunthivu Island. Congress MP Manickam Tagore met Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar had intervened through diplomatic channels and demanded the release of the fishermen.
He had said that incidents of crossing the maritime border sometimes occur due to technical fault or unintentional drift. He called for a bilateral arrangement between India and Sri Lanka to resolve such matters.
