Sri Lankan Navy arrests 11 Tamil fishermen

Chennai, Aug 24 : Tamil Nadu Fisheries Department on Saturday said that the Sri Lankan Navy has arrested 11 fishermen of the state.

“These arrested fishermen, hailing from Akkarapettai in Nagapattinam district, had set sail on Thursday into deep sea for routine fishing. They were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy at 41 nautical miles southeast of Kodiakarai,” said the Tamil Nadu Fisheries Department in a statement.

It added that their mechanised fishing trawler was also been seized by the Sri Lankan Navy.

The department identified the fishermen as Nagarathinam (23); R. Prakash (35); K. Sundandira Sundar (32); S. Anandavel (32); R. Chandru (23); V. Ramesh (47); K. Sanjay (23) from Akkaraipettai; K. Sivaraj (45); M. Varshan (19); V. Suman (25) from Nambiyar Nagar; and M. Rajendran (45).

“Most of these fishermen hail from Akkarapettai, Nambiar Nagar and Puthiyakallar areas,” the Fisheries Department said.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Navy said the fishermen were arrested for venturing into Sri Lankan waters by crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).

“We took the fishermen and the fishing trawler into custody and took them to Kankesuntharai Naval harbour and were handed over to legal authorities in Mailadi for further proceedings,” the Sri Lankan Navy in a statement said.

Sri Lankan Navy has arrested 333 Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu and seized 45 Indian trawlers poaching in the Sri Lankan waters in 2024.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has also written to Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar for his intervention in the matter regarding the arrest of the 11 Tamil fishermen.