Sri Lankan navy arrests eight fishermen from Tamil Nadu, sent to Karainagar port

Rameswaram: Eight fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested and their two boats seized by the Sri Lankan Navy in separate incidents on Thursday for allegedly fishing in the island nation’s territorial waters, fisheries department officials said. [caption id=“attachment_3136970” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Four fishermen each from Rameswaram and nearby Mandapam were arrested when they were allegedly fishing near Neduntheevu, the officials said. The fishermen were later taken to Karainagar port in northern Sri Lanka, Assistant Directors of Fisheries in Rameswaram and Mandapam said. The arrests came on a day when India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is visiting Colombo to participate in the two-day Indian Ocean Conference from Thursday. Earlier in August , twelve fishermen from Rameswaram were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly fishing near the Lankan coast.  A week before that, nearly 50 fishermen from Pudukottai and Jagadapattinam districts were arrested by the Navy of the island nation for allegedly poaching in Lankan waters. They were subsequently remanded to judicial custody till 23 August by a court in Oorkavalthurai and taken to a jail in Jaffna.