Yachtsmen arrested for shooting at fishing boats

Rafik Jalaldeen

A fisherman was slightly injured when some foreigners on a yachting cruise fired warning shots towards some fishing boats, 30 nautical miles off Kirinda, Maharawana fort on Tuesday night.

A German couple and another German and Brazilian sailing on two yachts from the Andaman, Nicobar Islands to Kochin had observed some boats approaching towards their yachts, 30 nautical miles off Maharawana fort.

“The sailors on the two yachts fired warning shots but the boats failed to respond and were speeding towards the yachts. The sailors fired two warning shots below the fishing boats and had injured a fisherman in the arm”, Navy Spokesman Commander D.P.K.Dassanayake said.

The Navy later reached the location and arrested the fishermen and the sailors and handed them over to the police. “The injured fisherman was admitted to the Karapitiya hospital”, he added.