Twenty four Sri Lankan fishermen handed over to authorities

Ridma DISSANAYAKE

Twenty four Sri Lankan fishermen taken into custody by the Indian coast guard on Tuesday have been handed over to the Kasimedu Fishery harbour police on Thursday.

The Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Ministry said these fishermen were arrested by the Indian Coast Guard for allegedly fishing in the seas off Andra Pradesh. The Indian Coast Guard also seized fishing boats named Kapila Putha 04, Champa 06, Praboth-02, Mayomi and Mayomi 05, in which the fishermen were fishing.

According to the ministry sources, the fishermen were arrested in Andra Pradesh with over 4,000 kilograms of fish, radar and long high frequency communication equipment. They had equipped their boats with GPS as well. Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne has earlier urged Sri Lankan fishermen not to trespass into Indian territorial waters for fishing.

The ministry added that three of these vessels had left from the Trincomalee harbour and the other two left from the Matara harbour on October 23, November 11 and 17. They said that the minister informed the Sri Lankan Ambassador in India about this incident.

The ministry had also taken measures to bring this matter to the notice of the External Affairs Ministry to take immediate steps to release the fishermen.