Eleven Indian poachers were arrested by the Navy on Friday along with a fishing craft bringing the total number of those arrested this year to 333, Navy Spokesman Capt. Gayan Wickramasinghe said.
He said the latest detention was made on the high seas of Point Pedro in the Northern seas.
The apprehension had been carried out during a regular patrol conducted by the Navy in the Northern waters on Friday.
The seized trawler together with the 11 Indian fishermen were later taken to the Kankesanthurai Harbour and handed over to the Mailadi Fisheries Inspector for legal proceedings, he said.
Meanwhile, in a related development the Chief Minister in Tamil Nadu, M. K. Stalin has protested against the arrest of the 11 Indian fishermen and called for their immediate and unconditional release.
In a letter to the Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Stalin stated, “I am writing to you with grave concern regarding yet another incident of apprehension of fishermen from Tamil Nadu.”
The fishermen were apprehended while fishing southeast of Kodiakarai in the Nagapattinam district, he said.
Further, in the past two weeks, there have been a couple of instances of attacks on fishermen at sea by unidentified persons from Sri Lanka, and this issue needs to be addressed immediately, the Chief Minister added.
“Therefore, I urge you to initiate immediate and concrete diplomatic efforts to secure the expeditious release of all our fishermen and their fishing boats,” Stalin told Jaishankar.
