Sixty-six Indian fishermen who were repatriated by Sri Lanka arrived at Rameswaram much to the jubilance of their family members on Wednesday.

The fishermen - 35 from Rameswaram, 20 from Nagapattinam and 11 from Karaikal - were let off after a Sri Lankan court released them. Some of the fishermen were languishing in Sri Lanka for more than two months since their detention in batches since July 30 for alleged violation ofinternational maritime boundary line (IMBL).

After their release, the fishermen were handed over to Indian Coast Guard at the IMBL and were brought to the shore. A statement from the coast guard said that the Indian Coast Guard station, Mandapam had deployed its ship Rajtarang for the repatriation. The ship took over the 66 fishermen from the Sri Lankan naval ship at IMBL at 10am and brought them to fisheries jetty at Rameswaram.

The fishermen were subjected to a joint interrogation onboard Indian Coast Guard ship

Rajtarang by police, intelligence bureau, ‘Q’ branch, coastal security group and customs’ sleuths along with ICG. After the interrogation, the fishermen were handed over to state fisheries authorities.

The 35 fishermen from Rameswaram were arrested by the Lankan navy on August 26, when they were fishing off Katchatheevu islet. They were lodged in Negombo jail and released after 29 days in custody. But, they could not be repatriated immediately as they were taken to the Mirihana camp and were handed over to the island navy only on October 1 for repatriation.

While one batch of fishermen was ordered to be released by the Mannar magistrate’s court on September 25, the magistrate of Puttalam court ordered the release of 35 Tamil Nadu fishermen on September 23. However, their boats that were detained by the island navy were not returned to the fishermen by the Lankan authorities in a bid to stop them from venturing into the Sri Lankan waters again.

Commandant H H More, station commander, Mandapam, urged that the fishermen should not cross IMBL for the sake of their own safety. He also warned that they should not indulge in any kind of illegal activities. The fishermen were also directed to operate in pairs or groups for mutual assistance and safety in emergency conditions. This would also help them in case of inadvertent crossing of IMBL. More also advised the fishermen to call upon coast guard or naval ship for assistance at sea as and when any distress occurred off IMBL. (TNN)