4 TN fishermen arrested by Sri Lanka Navy

The boat bearing registration number ‘IND TN 11 MM 292’ was also detained. The apprehension was made at Neduntheevu (Delft Island) at around 2.30 am and the Fisheries Department was apprised of the incident at around 5.30 am, according to Deputy Director of Fisheries, Kathavarayan, Ramanathapuram.

The detained fishermen were identified as N Selvam (46) of Agasthyarkoodam, I Dinesh (22) of Servaikaran Oorani, N Govindaraj (38) of Kuthukalvalasai and G Muthu Irulandi (40) of Mandapam.

After enquiring, the Deputy Director said, the arrested fishermen were taken to Kangesandurai naval camp, where they were medically examined before producing them before the magistrate court. A total of 487 boats including the detained boat ventured into the sea off Mandapam coast in the early morning hours of Saturday.

It was the second such incident of detention by the Lankan Navy in a week. On Wednesday last week, as many as 12 fishermen on board two trawlers were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy. They would be produced before the Magistrate’s court in Sri Lanka on July 12.

The State government is taking efforts in a diplomatic way to help the fishermen release from custody.

To prevent fishermen from trespassing into Sri Lankan waters and ward off any threat of apprehension at sea, the ‘deep sea fishing project’, which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is taking off following a good response from the fishermen, he told DT Next.