Decks cleared for repatriation of Lankan fisherman

Decks have been cleared for sending back A. Mariyadoss, (37), the Sri Lankan Tamil fisherman who had been struggling to return home for nearly eight months after he was rescued and brought to the shore by Rameswaram fishermen in December 2017.

The District-level Joint Interrogating Committee (JIC) meeting, chaired by Collector S. Natarajan, here on Friday decided to recommend his repatriation to Sri Lanka. “As no case has been made out against him, we have recommended to the government that he could be sent back,” Mr. Natarajan told The Hindu.

Superintendent of Police Omprakash Meena and representatives from various security agencies, including Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard, attended the meeting. Officials said the JIC’s recommendation would be sent to the Principal Secretary to the Government, Public (SC) Department, Chennai, for necessary action.

Mr. Mariyadoss, who was present in the meeting with U. Arulanandam, president of Alliance for the Release of Innocent Fishermen (ARIF), said: “I am happy as I will be joining my wife and children.” He urged the government to send him back at the earliest.

The JIC recommended his repatriation after the district police said there was no case against him. The Inspector of Fisheries Department, Mannar in Sri Lanka, also confirmed his identity and requested that he be repatriated to Sri Lanka.

Earlier, the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), acting on a petition submitted by the fisherman, took up the case and found that he was booked under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946. V. Ramalingam, Sub-Judge and Secretary of the DLSA, summoned the Marine Police, after which the case was transferred to Dhanushkodi police, who later closed it.

Mr. Mariyadoss was fishing on the high seas in a fibreglass boat with one K. Andron (20) on December 16, 2017, when the boat got caught in squally winds and sank in the sea. While Andron drowned, Mr. Mariyadoss clung on to a diesel can and remained afloat and the Rameswaram fishermen rescued him.

Source: The Hindu

-Agencies