Sri Lankan Navy arrests 30 TN fishermen

 Thirty fishermen of Pudukottai district in Tamil Nadu were arrested by Sri Lankan Navy when they were fishing at Kodiyankarai, a senior Fisheries Department official said on Thursday.

They were arrested last night for allegedly fishing in Lankan waters and eight boats were also seized, N. Thirunageswaran, Assistant Director, Fisheries Department, Jagathapattinam, said.

They have been taken to Kankeshanthurai, he said.

This came on a day when the Sri Lankan Navy had detained as many as 327 Indian fishermen while they were fishing in the Palk Strait and later released 227 of them. The 100 fishermen in custody were taken to Trincomallee.

The fishermen, hailing from Karaikal, Nagapattinam and Jagathapattinam, had been arrested for allegedly fishing in Lankan territorial waters.

S.Emerite, Rameswaram Fishermen organisation president, said fishermen of Nagapattinam, Jagathapattinam, Akkarai Pettai and Pudukottai boycotted fishing today protesting the arrests.