Chennai, Oct 5:
In a fresh incident, nine fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on charges of fishing in their territorial waters in the high seas after crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) on Saturday.
The fishermen, hailing from Thangachimadam in Rameswaram, in the Ramanathapuram district, had ventured into the sea for fishing when they were arrested by the Lankan Navy on charges of poaching.
They also impounded their mechanised boat along with their catch and took them to Sri Lanka and handed over the fishermen to the officials for further action.
Several fishermen associations condemned the arrest of their colleagues in a fresh incident and appealed to the Centre and Tamil Nadu governments to take steps to secure their early release and initiate steps to find a lasting solution to the vexed issue and safeguard their livelihood. They also urged the governments to take steps to secure the release of all the fishermen, who were earlier arrested and lodged in Sri Lankan prisons.