Colombo, Nov 10 (PTI) Sri Lanka’s Navy on Monday said it has arrested 14 Indian fishermen and seized their fishing boat for allegedly fishing in the island nation’s waters.
“During an operation conducted
on the night of 09 Nov 25, the Sri Lanka Navy and Coast Guard seized an Indian fishing boat and apprehended 14 Indian fishermen, while they were poaching in Sri Lankan waters off the Analativu Island, Jaffna,” the Navy said in a statement.
It said the Northern Naval Command spotted a group of Indian fishing boats “engaging in illegal fishing, trespassing into Sri Lankan waters.” “In response, the Northern Naval Command and Sri Lanka Coast Guard deployed their craft to drive away those Indian fishing boats from island waters,” it said.
The fishing boat, along with the fishermen held in this operation, was handed over to the Fisheries Inspector of Mailadi for onward legal proceedings, the statement added.
The fishermen issue is a contentious one in the ties between India and Sri Lanka, with the Sri Lankan Navy personnel sometimes even firing at Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait and seizing their boats for illegally entering Sri Lanka’s territorial waters. PTI CORR ZH ZH
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