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Navy swoops on 26 Indians poaching in northern waters
View(s):A group of 26 Indian fishermen was apprehended by the navy after being found poaching in Sri Lankan waters on Friday evening, a senior official revealed yesterday. The group was taken into custody along with five fishing craft in the northern seas off Kovilam Point and later handed over to the authorities at Kayts Island, he said.
The arrest, by the Northern Naval Command, brings to 36 the number of Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan custody. Another group of 10 Indian fishermen was also recently apprehended in the northern waters. In a related development, India’s National Fish Workers Forum yesterday sought the formation of an Indo-Sri Lanka Marine Disputes Authority to find a permanent solution to end the “sufferings” of Indian fishermen, allegedly at the hands of Sri Lankan Navy.
The General Secretary of the forum, M. Ilango, said that as well as the fishermen taken into Lankan custody last week, a fisherman from Karaikal had been injured when the Lankan Navy allegedly fired at a group of fishermen in March. The injured fisherman was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Chennai, he said.
Mr Ilango urged the Indian and Sri Lankan governments to take measures to end the continuing dispute. (LB)
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