India’s Coastal Security Group (CSG) police on Thursday arrested two Sri Lankan fishermen whose boat had reportedly drifted towards the Vedaranyam shore due to rough sea conditions. The fibre boat was also seized.

With this, the number of Sri Lankan fishermen, who were arrested over the last two days for entering Indian waters, has gone up to 12. On Tuesday, the Coast Guard had arrested 10 Sri Lankan fishermen of Trincomalee for entering Indian waters.

Acting on a tip-off that a Sri Lankan fibre boat was noticed on the Kodiakadu shore near Vedaranyam, the police, “Q” branch CID personnel, and the Coastal Security Group rushed to the spot and conducted enquiries with the two persons onboard the boat. 

The fishermen claimed that their boat had drifted towards the Indian shore due to rough sea. They were subsequently arrested under the Passport Act as they did not have necessary documents to enter India. 

They were identified as Siriraj (42), son of Anthoni Pillai and Yasanthan (17), son of Kanda Vadivel of Paruthithurai in Jaffna district of Sri Lanka. Both were Tamil fishermen. They reportedly landed between Kodiakadu and Maniyantheevu near Vedaranyam early on Thursday.

Ten remanded

Meanwhile, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Thursday remanded the 10 Sri Lankan fishermen who were arrested by Indian Coast Guard on the charge of fishing in Indian waters.

The fishermen included both Sri Lankan Tamil and Sinhalese fishermen from Trincomallee and other areas in Sri Lanka. On Tuesday, they were apprehended while fishing about 50 nautical miles east off Nagapattinam.

Source: The Hindu

-Agencies