11 TN fishermen arrested by Lankan Coast Guard return

CHENNAI: As many as 11 Tamil Nadu fishermen who were arrested by the Sri Lankan Coast Guard returned to Chennai on Monday.

The fishermen from Nagapattinam, Pudukottai, and Karaikal went fishing the sea last month and on March 22 when they were in the middle of the sea at midnight, the Coast Guard surrounded the fishermen for crossing the marine border and arrested all 11 of them and seized their boats. Later, they were sent to prison by the Lankan government.

After the incident, families of the fishermen requested the Tamil Nadu government to take steps to release them. Following that Chief Minister MK Stalin requested the Union government to bring the fishermen back to India. Then with the help of the Indian Embassy, all 11 fishermen were released from the prison and they were handed to the Indian Embassy officials.

They arranged the tickets and emergency visas for all the fishermen who arrived in Chennai on Monday early morning on the Air India flight. The officials from the fisheries department welcomed the fishermen and arranged transport to travel to their native.