Sri Lankan Navy Arrests Eight Tamil Nadu Fishermen For Crossing IMBL

The arrested fishermen were taken to the Kankesenthurai naval base in Sri Lanka.

Fishermen venturing into sea (Image for representation/Pixabay)

Chennai: Eight fishermen from Tamil Nadu's Pudukottai district were arrested on Tuesday by the Sri Lankan Navy for crossing the International Marine Border Line (IMBL) and reaching the island nation's territorial waters.

The fishermen had ventured to the sea from the Jegadapattinam fishing harbour on Monday morning, the Tamil Nadu Coastal Security Group told reporters, adding that they were arrested at 8 a.m. on Tuesday.

The eight have been identified as Tamilselvan (37) who is the owner of the mechanized fishing vessel, C. Viji (38), A. Dinesh (26), G. Ranjith (27), S. Pakkirasamy (45), S. Kamal (25), S. Punudhu (41) and M. Karthik (28), the remaining fishermen from the state.

The arrested fishermen were taken to the Kankesenthurai naval base in Sri Lanka.

Several Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for crossing the IMBL and at Katchatheevu island.

In protest, the fishermen community had blocked roads Pudukottai and Rameswaram demanding the release of their colleagues as well as the vessels seized by the Sri Lankan authorities, triggering a heavy financial burden on the families of those arrested.

Earlier, six Indian fishermen were arrested by Sri Lankan Navy while they were fishing in Palk Bay sea on August 27. The Nay arrested the fishermen allegedly since they crossed the IMBL. 

Meanwhile, 10 fishermen were arrested on August 22 for illegally fishing in Sri Lankan waters. Another nine fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested by Sri Lankan Navy on August 10.

Earlier, TN CM Stalin also wrote to Union Minister Jaishankar urging him to intervene and aid the release of the fishermen.