Sri Lankan Navy arrests four Pudukkottai fishermen for fishing by crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line
Condemning the arrest, PMK President and Rajya Sabha MP Dr Anbumani Ramadoss said the fishermen were apprehended on just the second day after they ventured into the sea after the 61-day annual fishing ban ended on June 15.
Representative image
CHENNAI: Four fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly fishing by crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).
The fishermen, hailing from Kottaipattinam in Pudukottai district, were fishing in the high seas near Katchatheevu when they were arrested and the boat was impounded. They were taken to Sri Lanka and lodged in prison.
Condemning the arrest, PMK President and Rajya Sabha MP Dr Anbumani Ramadoss said the fishermen were apprehended on just the second day after they ventured into the sea after the 61-day annual fishing ban ended on June 15.
Recalling earlier such incidents, Dr Anbumani, who is also a former Union Minister, said the Lankan Navy was in the habit of frequently arresting the fishermen from Tamil Nadu while they were fishing in their traditional waters. Terming the frequent arrests as an affront to Indian sovereignty, Dr Anbumani in a statement here called for a permanent solution to this vexatious issue. Stating there were reports that External Affairs Minister Dr Jaishankar was going to Sri Lanka on June 20 on an official visit, he urged him to take up the matter with the Lankan President and find a permanent solution.
He also said both the Indian and the Sri Lankan governments should take steps to convene the Joint Working Group meeting to find a solution and the arrested fishermen should be released.
“In the latest incident of alleged poaching by Indians, one Indian trawler was seized and four fishermen were arrested early on Tuesday around the northern islet of Delft in the Jaffna peninsula,” Sri Lanka Navy said.
Including Tuesday’s arrests, a total of 182 Indian fishermen have been arrested and 25 of their trawlers seized so far in 2024 for alleged illegal fishing in Sri Lankan waters, the Navy said.
The numbers are almost 75 per cent of approximately 240-245 held similarly in 2023. The majority of these incidents happen in the Palk Strait, a narrow strip of water separating Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka’s northern tip.
