Sri Lankan Navy arrests 16 Tamil Nadu fishermen

In the first incident, a group of eight from Thangachimadam near Rameswaram, who ventured into the sea in a mechanised boat owned by Kempus, were casting their net boat north west of Analathivu. Meanwhile, a fast attack craft (FAC) of Sri Lankan Navy came to the spot and arrested the fishermen and took the boat to a Sri Lankan naval base named SLNS Elara. Later, all the eight fishermen were handed to the officials of Jaffna Fisheries Department for further investigation. 

In the second incident, another group of eight fishermen from Nagapattinam were fishing in a mechanised boat belonging to Balamurugan north of Mannar when they were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy and were taken to the Sri Lankan naval base of SLNS Tammanna. 

The arrest of the Tamil Nadu fishermen on Wednesday was the second incident in last three days. Earlier 10 fishermen were arrested by the Navy on March 21. In the last three days, totally 26 Indian fishermen were arrested by the island nation navy. 

This caused resentment among the coastal community, even as a fishermen delegation from Rameswaram a couple of days ago met the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and sought a permanent solution to the problems faced by them from Sri Lankan Navy. The minister met the delegation in the aftermath of the killing of a 21-year-old fisherman reportedly by the Lankan Navy.