Chennai: Eleven fishermen from Pushpavanam village in Nagapattinam district were allegedly assaulted and robbed of their equipment by assailants from Sri Lanka in two incidents. The attacks allegedly took place in the sea, southeast of Kodiyakarai.
According to the fishers, a group of pirates attacked them indiscriminately before fleeing. They were admitted to the Vedaranyam Government Hospital for treatment of internal injuries. There was no danger to their lives, sources said.
The fishermen said that after attacking them, the pirates robbed the fishing nets and catch of the day. Fishermen in Tamil Nadu are already agitated over Sri Lankan Navy arresting Indian fishermen — mostly from Tamilnadu — for crossing the International Marine Boundary Line (IMBL) and confiscating their fishing vessels.
In Ramanathapuram, taking their protest to the next level, the fishers on Monday threatened to give up their citizenship on 2 February, if the Centre did not ensure the release of all Tamilnadu fishermen from Sri Lanka and take steps to block the Island nation’s proposed move to auction 105 fishing boats seized from them.