In yet another incident in a week, 25 Indian fishermen, natives of coastal villages in Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai districts in Tamil Nadu and Karaikal in the Union Territory of Puducherry, who had set sail in two groups, were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy mid-sea.
They were taken into custody a few nautical miles off Point Pedro on the charges of allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and poaching in the waters of the island country in the late hours of Saturday, December 9, 2023.
The arrested persons include N. Rajesh, S. Baskar, E. Nagaiyan, K. Divayanthan, S. Mayavan, T. Bhakiyaraj, S. Sakthivel, U. Manikandan, K. Ramachandran, R. Kothandapani, R. Ramachandran and R. Selvamani, all natives of Akkaraipettai and Keechankuppam coastal villages in Nagapattinam district. They set out to sea for fishing on December 5, after staying out of their routine for more than a week due to inclement weather conditions, in a mechanised boat owned by N. Ramesh of Akkaraipettai.
