12 Nagapattinam fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan Navy
The Sri Lankan Navy apprehended 12 Indian fishermen hailing from Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu and seized their mechanised fishing trawler allegedly for poaching in its territorial waters on Sunday.
The Sri Lanka Navy in its official website claimed that it had seized one Indian fishing boat and apprehended 12 Indian fishermen, while they were poaching in Sri Lankan waters, during a special operation conducted off Point Pedro, Jaffna.
The Navy continues to conduct patrols and operations in Sri Lankan waters to curb illegal fishing practices of foreign fishing boats, taking into account the impact of those practices on the livelihood of local fishermen.
As an extension of these operations, the Northern Naval Command deployed its Fast Attack Craft to send away a cluster of Indian fishing boats, having spotted they were poaching in Lankan waters off Point Pedro.
The operation resulted in the seizure of one Indian boat and the apprehension of 12 Indian fishermen, who continued to remain in Lankan waters.
The seized boat together with Indian fishermen was taken to the Kankesanthurai Harbour and they will be handed over to the Mailadi Fisheries officials for onward legal proceedings.
With this apprehension, the Sri Lankan Navy has held 462 Indian fishermen and 62 Indian fishing boats so far this year and legal proceedings were initiated against them, it added.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu fisheries officials said here that the arrested fishermen hailed from Akkaraipettai coastal hamlet in Nagapattinam district.
They had set sail into the sea for routine fishing activities on Saturday morning and were arrested when they were fishing on high seas close to the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).