Sri Lankan navy arrests 43 fishermen from Tamil Nadu

The Sri Lankan navy has arrested at least 43 fishermen from Tamil Nadu and seized six boats, an official said in Rameswaram on Sunday (December 19).

The fishermen’s association said it would stage a protest on Monday and announced an “indefinite strike” as well.

The fishermen left Rameswaram on December 18 in over 500 boats and were fishing off Katchatheevu Island when 43 of them were arrested and six boats seized, a fisheries department official said.

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Following their arrest, they were taken to Kangesanthurai camp, a fishermen’s association leader and authorities said.

Ramanathapuram MP K Navas Kani spoke to union ministers and urged them to take immediate steps for the release of the fishermen and their boats.

Katchatheevu is a 163-acre uninhabited island administered by Sri Lanka and was once claimed by India. The island is located between Neduntheevu, Sri Lanka, and Rameswaram. In 1974, then prime minister Indira Gandhi ceded Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka under the ‘Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Agreement’ aimed at resolving the maritime boundaries in the Palk Strait.