Fifteen fishermen from Karaikal in Puducherry and Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu, were arrested early on Friday, March 15, 2024, by the Sri Lankan Navy. Their boat was also seized.
Twelve of the arrested fishers are from Karaikal, while the other three are from Nagapattinam. The fishermen had ventured into the sea from the Karaikal Fishing Harbour together, on a boat on Thursday, March 14. As they were fishing, they were intercepted mid-sea and arrested by Sri Lankan Naval personnel for trespassing into the island nation’s waters.
Also read: Stalin urges Centre to secure release of fishermen from Sri Lankan custody
This is at least the third such incident in March alone and at least the sixth this year: on March 10, the Sri Lankan Navy arrested 15 fishermen including two from Puducherry’s Karaikal district and 13 from Nagapattinam district. In another incident on the same day, seven fishers from Pudukotaai district were arrested. In January, 18 fishermen were arrested, and in February, in two separate incidents, 19 and 23 fishers were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy.
The fishermen arrested on Friday, were taken to Kankesanthurai Harbour and handed over to the Mailadi fisheries inspector for legal proceedings.
Sources in the Fisheries Department of Karaikal said the boat, bearing the registration number IND-PY-PK-MM-1337, belonging to M. Jeyamathi, was also seized.
The arrested fishermen from Nagapattinam district were identified as A. Arumugan, S. Sekar(47) and P. Mohan(45), while those from Karaikal were K. Muruganantham(48), M. Velmani(28), M. Murugan(34), K. Kandhakumar(34), M. Sundaravel (52), K. Balamurugan(44), V. Vadivel(34), S. Velmurugan(39), S. Idumban(37), R. Parasuraman(41), T. Manikandan(37) and B. Babu(24).
Earlier this week, the Madras High Court impressed upon the need for the Centre to find a lasting solution to the recurring problem of Indian fishermen being arrested and their boats being seized by the Sri Lankan Navy on charges of crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).
Meanwhile, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin wrote to the Union government requesting it to take steps to convene the Joint Working Group to secure the release of all the fishermen and their boats.
It was important to resolve the “festering issue” through diplomatic channels, Mr. Stalin said in his letter to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
