Lankan Navy opens fire to scare away fishermen

RAMANATHAPURAM: At a time when Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai is visiting  the island nation, Sri Lankan Navy has opened fire in the air to threaten a large group of Indian fishermen in mid sea off Katchativu besides damaging their nets and taking away their fish catch.More than 500 mechanised boats had ventured into sea for fishing from Rameswaram on Saturday and they were stopped by the Lankan Navy near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). Some fishermen alleged that the Sri Lankan Navy personnel damaged some nets and robbed their fish catch.Kingkiston, a fisherman of Pamban, said that the Lankan Navy cut off some nets and chased the Indian fishermen from their region by force. Keviston, another fisherman said many fishing nets were damaged.Meanwhile, N J Bose, fishermen association leader, told Express that as a group of Indian fishermen were using high power engines and banned nets, the Lankan Navy opened fire to scare them away.The incident happened a day after Chief Minister Jayalalithaa requested the Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai to take up the issue of frequent attacks by the Navy with the Sri Lankan government.