SAFF seeks govt help for release of 6 Lankan fishermen

MADURAI: The South Asian Fishermen Fraternity (SAFF), Kanniyakumari has sought the intervention of government authorities to release six Sri Lankan fishermen from detention.

They were apprehended by the Indian Coast Guard in November last year and being detained in Puzhal prison, Chennai, Fr Churchill, general secretary, SAFF, said on Tuesday.

The detained fishermen were identified as R Ranil Chamara (31), J Sehan Steewan (24), Udara Kasun (27), N Sanjeewa (30), A Sankalpa Jeewantha (19) and S Sudesh Sanjeewa (19)

They sailed from Kalpatiya Kandakuliya village in Puttalam district, Sri Lanka, by two small fiber crafts (Skill Neil Marine registered numbers -OFRP - A - 7537 - PTM and OFRP - A - 6866 – PTM) for deep sea fishing, a couple of months ago.

While the Sri Lankan fishermen were engaged in fishing, they happened to cross the Indian Territory.

They are small-scale fishermen and the boats were not equipped with sophisticated instruments to read the science of sea, he said after submitting a petition to Kanniyakumari Collector M Arvind.

On November 25, last year the Indian Coast Guard, Thoothukudi station, arrested those six Sri Lankan fishermen for entering Indian waters without valid documents.

TN Coastal Security Group, Tharuvaikulam, Thoothukudi district, filed a case under Section 3/10 of Maritime Zones of India (Regulation of Fishing by Foreign Vessels) Act, 1981.

The investigation authorities reported that those six Sri Lankan fishermen unintentionally strayed into the Indian Territory without reading the GPS makings, Churchill said.