More than 4,000 fishermen from here returned without catch after some of them were allegedly driven away by Sri Lankan Navy personnel while fishing near Katchatheevu, fishermen association leaders said on Sunday.
The fishermen were fishing between Danushkodi and Katchatheevu, an islet ceded to Sri Lanka, past midnight on Saturday when gun-toting Sri Lankan Naval personnel came in patrol boats and drove away around 50 of the nearly 600 mechanised boats, they claimed.
The fishermen, who have not been venturing into sea in the past fortnight due to a strike and weather conditions, had put out to sea on Saturday night.
Fishermen association leader S Emrit claimed that the fisherfolk had to return without a catch after the Lanka navymen chased them away and that it resulted in monetary losses to them.
He urged the state and central governments to take up the issue with the island nation’s government so as to alleviate the woes of the Tamil Nadu fishermen.
Meanwhile, a section of fishermen resorted to a novel protest here with begging bowls, seeking action against fisherfolk using banned nets for fishing.