Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday wrote to Union External Affairs Minister Jaishankar for release of nine fishermen who were recently arrested by Sri Lankan Navy. The six fishermen who ventured into the sea on August 8 were arrested by the SL Navy on August 10.
In the letter, MK Stalin said, “I wish to draw your attention to the apprehension of nine Indian fishermen and their mechanized fishing boat bearing registration No: IND TN-06-MM-6534 on August 10 by the Sri Lankan Navy. The nine fishermen ventured into the sea for fishing on 06.08.2022 at 11.00 p.m. from Nagapattinam fishing harbor.”
“The apprehended fishermen along with their boat have been taken to Triconmalee Naval Base, Sri Lanka. I request you to kindly prevail upon the Sri Lankan Goverment through appropriate diplomatic channels for the release of the nine Tamil Nadu fishermen along with their fishing boat at the earliest,” he said.
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On Wednesday, the nine fishermen identified as M Kamaraj, G Chellaiyan, U Poovarasan, S Muruganandam, A Sriban, S Anbu, K Balu, P Selladurai and S Murugan belonging to Akkaraipettai, Keechankuppam and Ariyanadu have arrested for trespassing the International Maritime Boundary Line.
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Earlier, Sri Lankan Navy rescued six Indian fishermen who were stranded in the sea due to a glitch. Over 530 fishermen went fishing from Rameswaram but a boat owned by Sagear Pandian developed a snag and got stranded. It then drifted into SL waters.
The SL Navy who were on the patrol immediately rescued the fishermen on August 1.