Six TN fishermen attacked, robbed in midsea near Point Calimere

CHENNAI: Six fishermen from Tamil Nadu's Nagapattinam district were allegedly attacked and robbed in midsea near Point Calimere (Kodiyakarai) by unidentified men, said police on Thursday.

The incident, which left all the six men injured, sent shock waves across the local fishing villages.

One of the injured identified as Murugan had three of his fingers severed by the assailants who the affected fishermen claim were from Sri Lanka, said police.

The fishermen hailing from Nambiar Nagar set out for fishing on February 14 and while they were fishing in the mid-sea southeast of Point Calimere, some unidentified men who came in four boats surrounded their vessel and mounted an attack on them.

Murugan who attempted to shield himself from the attack on Wednesday night had three of his fingers cut by the attackers, police said when contacted.

The assailants robbed the fishermen of their GPS, mobile phones, catch and fishing nets. The injured men were provided treatment initially at the Pushpavanam beach and later shifted to Nagapattinam government hospital, police said.