In a fresh incident, the Sri Lankan Navy personnel arrested 16 Tamil Nadu fishermen — 12 from Rameswaram and four from Mandapam — in the early hours of Thursday. Their two mechanised boats were also impounded.
According to information reaching here, the fishermen were taken to a camp in Mannar and were expected to be produced before a court and sent to the prisons. The charge was that they violated the International Maritime Boundary Line. During surveillance, the Sri Lankan Navy secured them near Katchatheevu.
Condemning the arrest, fishermen association leader Jesu Raja said the Union government should immediately intervene and ensure that the fishermen were safely released with the boats.
