Ask Sri Lanka to release 10 TN fishermen, Panneerselvam tells Modi

A day after over 10 fishermen allegedly came under the mid-sea attack of the Sri Lankan Navy, another 10 hailing from Pudukkottai and Rameswaram were arrested on the charge of poaching into the Lankan waters.

All the four incidents came within a week of the Joint Working Group (JWG) of India and Sri Lanka holding its ministerial-level meeting in Colombo and deciding on the release of 51 Tamil  Nadu fishermen from its prisons.

Six fishermen from Pudukkottai district, who ventured into sea from Jegathappattinam fishing jetty, were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy near Neduntheevu in the wee hours of Sunday.  Their mechanised boat was seized and taken to Karainagar Port in the island nation.

They were part of around 700 fishermen of Jegathappattinam, who had set out to sea in 210 mechanised boats on Saturday. As per their schedule, they were expected to return to the shore on Sunday morning. But one of the boats did not return.

Following this, the members of Jegathappattinam Fishermen’s Association launched a search to trace the boat.

(NIE)