Rameswaram, Feb 08 (UNI) The Sri Lankan Navy arrested 11 Indian fishermen and confiscated three mechanized fishing trawlers for unlawful poaching in its territorial waters, mid night last night.
Official sources said today the fishermen, hailing from Rameswaram were apprehended by the Lankan naval personnel, when they were fishing near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).
The arrested 11 fishermen were among 4,000 fishermen who had ventured into the sea in 567 trawlers from Rameswaram fishing jetty yesterday morning. The Sri Lankan Navy claimed that 11 Indian fishermen were arrested in a special operation conducted off Delft Island by its Northern Naval Command to curb illegal fishing activities in its waters.
Eleven fishermen aboard the poaching vessels, who were engaged in bottom trawling, an illegal fishing method in Sri Lankan waters close to the Delft Island in Jaffna, were nabbed, it said in a statement.
This is the second instance of arrest of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy so far this year. Earlier, they arrested twenty-one fishermen from Nagapattinam and Karaikal on January 31 on similar charges.
Leaders of various fishermen associations in Rameswaram strongly condemned the continuous attacks and arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen by Sri Lanka and appealed the Central and state governments to take steps for the early release of all the 32 fishermen from Sri Lanka captivity.
