4 Nagapattinam fishermen injured in mid-sea attack by Sri Lankan gang

Tiruchy: In a mid-sea attack by three member assailants probably from Sri Lanka, four fishermen from Nagapattinam sustained injuries and they managed to reach the shore and are undergoing treatment in the GH on Tuesday.

A group of four fishermen from Akkaraipettai identified as Murugan, Murugavel, Muthu and Chinnaiyan ventured into sea in a fibre boat with outboard engine owned by Murugan late on Monday evening.

While they were fishing around 20 nautical miles off Kodiyakarai, a three-member gang who came there by a boat jumped onto their boat and started assaulting the Nagapattinam fishermen with lethal weapons in which the boat owner Murugan sustained injury to his head while the other three sustained cut injuries on their hands and various other parts. On seeing the Nagapattinam fishermen struggling, the gang took away their catch, fishing gears and GPS and other equipment worth Rs 5 lakh and fled.

The injured fishermen, struggling for life for more than 45 minutes, managed to reach the shore early on Tuesday.

They passed on the information to the police and the fisheries officials who rushed to the spot and took the injured fishermen to the Nagapattinam GH. The victims said that the gang was speaking in Sri Lankan Tamil slang.

Though they were out of danger, the fellow fishermen raised concerns and appealed to the government to put an end to the menace as they have been confronted by Sri Lankan assailants frequently and spoil their livelihood.