CHENNAI: As many as 18 Tamil Nadu fishermen who were arrested by the Sri Lankan Coast Guard returned to Chennai on Thursday.

A group of 18 fishermen from Ramanathapuram and Rameswaram went fishing to the sea on February 7 on two boats.

While they were fishing in the middle of the sea the Sri Lankan Coast Guard surrounded them for crossing the border and all of them were arrested and sent to prison.

Following that the Families of the fishermen requested the State and Central government to take steps to release the fishermen. Later with the help of the Indian Embassy in Sri Lanka the fishermen were released from the prison and handed to the Indian embassy officials.

The officials arranged the travel documents and tickets for the fishermen and they reached the Chennai airport on the Air India flight which arrived from Colombo on Thursday night.

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