CHENNAI: Fifteen fishermen from Tamil Nadu, who were arrested by the Sri Lankan Coast Guard last year, returned to Chennai on Wednesday after being released from the jail there.

These fishermen from Nagapattinam and Ramanathapuram were arrested in separate incidents on August 27 and November 11.

According to officials here, they were fishing in the sea when they were surrounded by the Lankan Coast Guard personnel who arrested and took all of them to Sri Lanka, where they were lodged in prison.

After the incident, Chief Minister MK Stalin shot off a letter to the Union government, urging it to take appropriate steps to secure the release of the fishermen.

After the Indian embassy in Sri Lanka got involved and initiated measures, all 15 of them were released from prison a few days ago. The Lankan authorities handed over the released fishermen to Indian officials, who arranged their travel documents.

On Wednesday night, the fishermen were taken from Colombo on an Air India flight and arrived in Chennai, where they were welcomed by officials from the Fisheries Department.

The department also arranged transport to take them to their native villages.