Sri Lanka releases two apprehended TN men, hands over mortal remains of fisherman

The Sri Lankan Navy handed over two fishermen, recently apprehended, and also the mortal remains of a fisherman who died at sea to the Indian Navy near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) in the wee hours on Saturday, Indian media reported.

Indian Navy ship, INS Bitra, which was on deployment off Rameshwaram, coordinated with the Sri Lankan Navy ship and had received the fishermen and the dead body at sea at about 1.00 a.m.

The Indian Navy ship then proceeded to Rameshwaram, where the Navy Officer from the Naval Detachment coordinated with marine police and Tamil Nadu Fisheries department in transferring the mortal remains and the fishermen, at around 3 am, a media release from the Indian authorities said. 
Meanwhile, the Indian Consulate General office in Jaffna confirmed that in cooperation with the government of Sri Lanka, the safe repatriation of the 02 Indian fishermen along with the mortal remains of the deceased fisherman from Jaffna was secured last night (02). 

Posting on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), it added that they reached Rameswaram in the early hours today (03).

On August 1, a fisherman from Tamil Nadu’s Rameswaram reportedly died and another went missing when the boat in which they were fishing in the mid-sea capsized after allegedly colliding with the Sri Lankan Navy ship.

However, issuing a media release, Sri Lanka Navy stated that the incident took place after the Indian fishing boat which was illegally poaching in Sri Lankan waters capsized during an interception attempt.

The mechanised fishing boat capsized when the Sri Lankan Navy attempted to arrest them on charges of illegal fishing, a senior fisheries official had said. Four fishermen from Rameswaram who were on board fell into the sea after the boat capsized.

While one fisherman reportedly died and another went missing, two men were rescued and detained by the Sri Lankan authorities then.

--With agencies inputs