Sri Lanka Navy on Monday arrested 18 more Indian fishermen for violating the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and poaching in Sri Lankan water, just a day after it had arrested 22 fishermen off Delft Island.
SLNS Udara and FACs attached to the Northern Naval Command arrested 18 Indian fishermen and 03 Indian Dhows engaged in illegal fishing in the Nothern seas off Delft Island, navy said.
The arrested fishermen were brought to KKS harbour and handed over to the Fisheries Authorities in Jaffna.
Twenty-two fishermen from Jagadapattinam in Pudukottai District were arrested by Sri Lankan Naval personnel on Sunday morning for fishing in Sri Lankan territorial waters and taken to KKS Port along with their six boats.
The development comes even as Tamil parties are mounting pressure on the Indian government to secure the release of over 220 fishermen detained in Sri Lanka.
Fishermen in Tamil Nadu had been demanding immediate release of 227 fishermen of Nagapattinam, Karaikal and Pudukottai districts, detained by Lankan Navy over the past few months and even went on a brief strike.
A delegation of fishermen from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Saturday met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and urged him to prevail upon Sri Lanka to release their colleagues lodged in jails there.
- With inputs from PTI
