Fishermen of Kottaipattinam, a small town in Tamil Nadu, started a strike on Friday, demanding the immediate release of mechanised boats impounded by the Sri Lankan Navy. Over 250 mechanised boats kept off the sea, The Hindu reported.

Sixty-four boats are yet to be released from Sri Lankan custody, said Abdul Hameem, president of the Kottaipattinam mechanised boat owners association.

Meanwhile Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has said that following the release of the Indian fishermen from a Sri Lankan prison, the Centre has initiated steps to ensure the return of their fishing vessels too.
 
Conveying the information on the Centre’s action in ensuring the release of the Indian fishermen, Ms Swaraj told the Fishermen’s Association president, Bose, that efforts were on get back the fishing vessels that had been seized by the Lankan authorities.

The assurance from the external affairs minister came after Union minister of state for heavy industries and public enterprises and state BJP president Pon Radhakrishnan took up the case with her, the Deccan Chronicle  reports.
 
During his meeting with Ms Swaraj on Wednesday, Mr Pon Radhakrishnan insisted that along with the fishermen, their boats should also be returned. Thereafter, Ms Swaraj spoke over phone from the national capital to Bose and assured him that steps had been taken for the restoration of the boats to the fishermen, according to state BJP headquarters secretary K. Sarvothaman.
 
In yet another goodwill gesture, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had on Wednesday ordered the release of all Indian fishermen who were taken into custody by the authorities there on the occasion of India’s Independence Day.