Chennai: The Sri Lankan Navy arrested 22 Indian fishermen for allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) in two separate incidents, revealed TN Fisheries Department official to PTI on Thursday.
Among all the 22 fishermen, 13 fishermen ventured into the sea from Nagapattinam while the remaining nine fishermen ventured from the Karaikal region of Puducherry. The Navy also seized two boats of the fishermen, said a PTI report.
However, the arrest of TN fishermen comes a day after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote to Union External Affairs Minister Jaishankar seeking Centre’s intervention to release the fishermen jailed by the island nation. As of Wednesday, 29 fishermen and 82 boats were under the custody of the Sri Lankan government.
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Stalin also urged the Union Minister to have bilateral talks with Colombo to find an end to the long-standing issue.
Earlier Sri Lanka released all the Tamil fishermen who were arrested by the Navy in December after the intervention of the Centre.
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All the 47 fishermen who were released by the Sri Lankan Navy arrived at Chennai by flight only last week. Later, they returned to their homes in Rameswaram, Nagapattinam, and Pudukottai by train.
However, the island nation yet again started arresting TN fishermen last month under the allegation that the fishermen crossed the IMBL.