Some of the 34 fishermen from Rameswaram who were arrested by Sri Lankan navy on Saturday night.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
In a fresh incident of poaching charge, the Sri Lankan Navy personnel arrested 34 fishermen from Rameswaram and impounded three trawlers on Saturday night.
According to the Fisheries Department officials, they had issued 439 tokens on Saturday and the fishermen were expected to reach the shores in the early hours of Sunday.
Preliminary inquiries indicated that when they were engaged in fishing between Dhanushkodi and Mannar, the Sri Lankan Navy, under surveillance, secured the fishermen in the north of Mannar.
The names of the arrested fishermen were given as Regan, 43, Christoper, 33, Innasi Jenson, 42, and 31 others.
According to a statement from the Sri Lanka Navy, they arrested the Indian fishermen to curb illegal fishing practices of foreign fishing boats considering the livelihood of their local fishermen.
The Northern Naval Command and Coast Guard had deployed their fast attack craft to drive away the Indian fishing boats poaching in the sea area north of Talaimannar. The arrested fishermen and their boats were handed over to the Assistant Director of Fisheries, Killinochi, for further legal proceedings, the release said.
Meanwhile, fishermen leaders in Rameswaram condemned the arrest and seizure of the property under what they termed as false charges. They urged the Union government to intervene in the matter and take up the issue with the Sri Lankan government and bring back the fishermen safely with the trawlers.
“A meeting is likely to be convened by the fishermen associations in the coastal district,” the sources added.
Published – January 26, 2025 04:43 pm IST