174 Indian boats in Sri Lankan custody to be released

In a huge relief to the Tamil fishermen, the Sri Lankan government has ordered for the release of the boats that have been in their custody since 2014, India Today reported. Indian fishermen have been demanding the release of the boats in the Sri Lankan custody for a long time now, the report said.

174 boats have been taken into Sri Lankan custody from 2014 to June, 2018. Five trawler owners have been summoned to the Sri Lankan court for illegal fishing and crossing the international maritime borderline, these five trawler owners will have to assemble as per the earlier order and the fate of their boats will be decided by the Sri Lankan court.

Most of the trawlers belong to fishermen from Pudhukottai, Nagapattanam, Ramanathapuram, Karaikal, Tanjore.

Based on the order, 50 boats were released on Wednesday and 27 more boats are likely to be relased on Thursday. By Saturday all boats need to be handed over to the Sri Lankan external ministry, said the Attorney General of Sri Lanka today.