Lankan Navy detains 23 TN fishermen

RAMANATHAPURAM: As many as 23 fishermen from Rameswaram were detained by the Sri Lankan Navy for fishing in their waters on Tuesday. Fishermen back home have decided to suspend work till the men are released.Sources from the fisheries department said more than 700 mechanised boats had set off for fishing on Monday. They were expected to return the next day, but Lankan Navy personnel besieged their boats mid-sea and took them to Lankan soil.The fishermen, including Manoharan, Muthuveeran, Muniyasamy, Raju, Malaisamy, Alagesan, Ganesan, Muthukalai, Ramakrishnan and Ramasamy, were handed over to the Thalaimannar police, who are supposed to produce them before court before lodging them in prison. At a meeting in Rames­waram, leaders of fishermen’s associations and boat owners decided not to venture into the sea till the release of the detained fishermen.N J Bose, general secretary to the Tamil Nadu Coastal Fishermen’s Welfare Association, charged the government with failing to protect the fishermen. The continuing mid-sea abductions and suffering of the fishermen were because of the callous attitude of the government, he added.The detention of and attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen have been contentious issues for long now. Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had recently raised the issue during the Assembly session.Meanwhile, district collector Arun Roy, who met fishermen in Rameswaram on Tuesday, assured them that necessary steps would be taken for the early release of detained fishermen.Around 23 fishermen were abducted by Lankan navy along with their five mechanized boats on the charge of trespassing into the waters of Lanka.The Collector’s assurance came after a large group of fishermen and their association leaders met district collector Arun Roy and requested him to take steps for the early release of their colleagues. The district collector immediately sent a message about the issue to the state government.