Sri Lankan Navy seized eight Indian fishing boats and arrested 55 fishermen on the charge of allegedly poaching in their territory since Saturday, The Hindu reported. So far, 73 boats have been captured by Sri Lanka, PTI reported.
The Navy in a statement accessed by The New Indian Express said that 43 fishermen from Tamil Nadu’s Rameswaram town were arrested during its operation at Delft Island in northern Sri Lanka. The officials arrested 12 fishermen on Sunday for crossing the international maritime boundary.
Of the 55 arrested, 43 underwent Covid-19 tests and were produced in a court in Jaffna. They have been remanded to police custody till December 31.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has raised the matter with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, requesting him to look into the release of the fishermen and the boats captured by Sri Lanka.
In his letter, Stalin said that he was saddened by the arrest and harassment of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy at an “alarming frequency”. He added that Sri Lanka holds the boats of the fishermen, which is a source of their livelihood.
“The repeated attempts by the Lankan Navy to prevent Indian fishermen from exercising their traditional fishing rights through “intimidatory tactics” must not be allowed to continue further,” he said.
On December 14, 29 fishermen from Rameswaram and Thangachimadam were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly crossing the international maritime boundary, The New Indian Express reported. In March, 20 fishermen from Rameswaram were arrested by the Navy.
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