8 Pudukkai fishermen arrested by Lankan Navy remanded till Oct 4

TIRUCHY: Sri Lankan Navy arrested eight fishermen from Pudukkottai on charges of crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) in the wee hours of Tuesday.

Sources said, fishermen from Jegathapattinam in Pudukkottai district ventured into sea in as many as 87 mechanised boats on Monday evening. While all the boats were fishing 32 nautical miles off Kottaipattinam, a Sri Lankan Navy craft arrived at the spot. On seeing the navy, fishermen in all mechanised boats, despite being in Indian waters, fled fearing arrest.

However, the Navy apprehended one boat owned by P Tamil Selvan (37) and arrested all the eight fishermen on board claiming that they had crossed the IMBL and were fishing in Lankan waters. The arrested were identified as Tamil Selvan, boat owner, C Viji (28), A Dinesh (26), K Ranjith (27), S Pakkirisamy (45), S Kamal (25), S Punugu (41) and M Karthik (27) all residents of Kottaipattinam. The island nation’s Navy also seized their boat, fishing gears and the catch.

The arrested fishermen were taken to Kankesanthurai port and handed over to the Fisheries Department through Sri Lankan Coast Guard for legal proceedings. A Sri Lankan court remanded the Indian fishermen under judicial custody till October 4. Subsequently, they were lodged in a prison there.