14 TN fishermen arrested by SL coastal guards return to Chennai

CHENNAI: As many as 14 Tamil Nadu fishermen who were arrested by the Sri Lankan coastal guards returned to Chennai on Tuesday.

A group of 14 fishermen from Nagapattinam, Pudukottai, and Karaikal went fishing in the sea last month. While they were in the middle of the sea, their motor boat got repaired and the fishermen were trying to rectify the fault. During that time the coastal guards, who surrounded them, arrested all the fishermen and seized their boats for crossing the border. Later, they were sent to prison by the Sri Lankan government.

The families of the fishermen requested the State government to take steps to bring them back to India and following which Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote a letter to the Central government requesting to bring back the fishermen. Later, with the help of the Indian Embassy in Sri lLnka, all the fishermen were released from prison the Indian embassy arranged travel tickets and other documents for them and they reached the Chennai airport on Tuesday at 4.15 am on the Air India flight. At the Chennai airport, they were welcomed by the officials of the fisheries department and they arranged transport for their native villages from the airport.