7 TN fishermen arrested by the SL coastal guards return to Chennai

CHENNAI: Seven Tamilnadu fishermen who were arrested by the Srilankan coast guard returned to Chennai on Tuesday.

15 fishermen from Tamilnadu went fishing at sea last month. On November 5 when they were in the middle of the sea the Srilankan coast guard surrounded the fishermen and they were arrested for crossing the marine border.

They were sent to prison by the Srilankan government. Later the families of the fishermen requested the government to take steps to release them and Chief Minister wrote a letter to the Central government then with the help of the Indian embassy the fishermen were released on November 17.

The Embassy arranged emergency visas and tickets for the fishermen and seven of them returned to Chennai early Tuesday morning. The officials from the fisheries department welcomed them at the airport and the remaining of them are expected to reach Chennai in a couple of days.