9 fishermen held by Sri Lankan Navy

Ramanathapuram Regional Deputy Director of Fisheries E Kathavarayan, when contacted, said though the fishermen in detention belong to Nambuthalai, a coastal hamlet in the northern part of Ramnad, all those nine fishermen ventured into sea off Jegathapattinam, a coastal village near Mimisal in Pudukottai district.

Preliminary inquiries revealed that these ill-fated fishermen after obtaining anchorage permission from authorities of Fisheries Department were engaged in fishing off Jegathapattinam coast for several years together.

However, the exact fishing schedule on when the fishermen set out to sea is yet to be known since Jegathapattinam falls under the other coastal jurisdiction, Kathavarayan said.

Sources said the fishermen were apprehended by a ‘Fast Gun Boat’ attached to the Northern Naval Command during patrol in the Northern seas North West of Delft Island.

Two dhows used by the fishermen have also been taken into naval custody.

Accordingly, the Indian fishermen who were taken to SLNS Uththara, after a basic medical test, were due to be handed over to the office of the Fisheries Inspector in Jaffna for onward legal action, sources said.

The detainees have been identified as Selvendiran (40), Ramkumar (43), Periyasamy (50), Govindaraj (45), Kalidas (49), Vasi (18), Nagaraj (45), Ramu (32) and Abhiman (18), sources said.