Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Tamil Nadu unit president K Annamalai on Wednesday sought the intervention of the External Affairs Ministry for the early repatriation of the 18 Tamil fishermen and their two boats detained by the Sri Lankan Navy on Tuesday evening.
“We request the kind intervention of our External affairs ministry for the early repatriation of the detainees and the release of their fishing boat,” Annamalai said in his letter to the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
“We bring to your kind attention the arrest of 18 Tamil fishermen from Pamban by the Sri Lankan Navy today, and 2 fishing boats belonging to these fishermen were also apprehended (IND/TN/10/MM/2677 & IND/TN/10/MM/2673),” Annamalai wrote in his letter.
The Sri Lanka Navy said that it “conducted a special operation to chase away Indian poaching trawlers from Sri Lankan waters on the evening of January 16, 2024”.
“The operation led to the seizure of 02 Indian trawlers, with 18 Indian fishermen poaching in Sri Lankan waters off Mannar,” the Sri Lankan Navy said in an official release.