Sri Lankan navy allegedly arrests three fishermen of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday. (Representational Photo)
Three fishermen from Tamil Nadu were on Tuesday arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly fishing off Neduntheevu near the Lankan coast, the sixth such incident in July. The fishermen from Kottaipattinam in Pudukottai district have been taken to Kangesanthurai port, police said. Their boat was also seized for allegedly intruding into Lankan territory and poaching in their zone, they said.
On Friday last, eight fishermen from Nagapattinam district were arrested for allegedly fishing off Neduntheevu,while four fishermen from Jagada pattinam in Pudukottai district were arrested on July 17. On July 13, seven fishermen from Mandapam near here were arrested for allegedly fishing in Lankan waters. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention in finding a permanent solution to the recurring mid-sea arrests.
The state government has maintained that restoration of Katchatheevu, an islet ceded to Sri Lanka in the 1970s, was the “only solution” to the vexed fishermen’s issue.
