CHENNAI: Expressing concern over the increasing incidents of the State fishermen being arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy, CPI state secretary R Mutharasan on Monday urged the Union government to take appropriate measures to release all the fishermen imprisoned in the island nation, to retrieve the boats and to put an end to the atrocities of the Navy.

“It is strongly condemnable that the atrocities of the Sri Lanka Navy are increasing day by day. It is not a coincidence that the Sri Lankan Navy continues to threaten the lives, property and livelihood of Tamil Nadu fishermen. It is a deliberately planned attack,” he said in a statement.

He noted that the Sri Lankan government continues to carry out outrageous actions, such as deadly attacks on the state fishermen, damaging nets, confiscating boats, imprisoning fishermen, torturing them, shaving them and making them look ugly, and imposing damages in crores. He added that the Sri Lankan Navy has detained 17 fishermen from Rameswaram and two boats.

“As these things continue, it is very worrying that the Union Government is not taking appropriate action regarding this serious problem and coming forward to protect the state fishermen. We urge the Union Government to take action on a wartime basis to protect the livelihood of the state fishermen and release all the fishermen imprisoned in Sri Lanka and their seized boats to put an end to the atrocities of the Lankan Navy,” he demanded.