CHENNAI: As many as 17 Tamil Nadu fishermen who were arrested by the Sri Lankan Coast Guard returned to Chennai on Friday.

A group of 17 fishermen from Rameshwaram went fishing in the sea on September 29.

While they were fishing on the sea the Sri Lankan coast guard surrounded them and all of them were arrested and their boats were seized for crossing the border.

Later the families of the fishermen requested the government to take action to release them and the Tamil Nadu CM Stalin requested the Central government to take immediate action.

Following that with the help of the Indian embassy in Sri Lanka all 17 fishermen were released from the prison a few days ago and they were handed to the Indian officials.

The officers arranged the travel documents for the fishermen and all of them returned to Chennai on the Air India flight which arrived from Colombo on Friday night.

The officials from the fisheries department welcomed the fishermen at the airport and arranged transport for their native villages.