135 Fishermen Leaves For Sri Lanka To Take Back Seized Boats

15 March, Chennai

A group of 135 Tamil Nadu fishermen accompanied by technicians will arrive in Sri Lanka Sunday to repair and take back their 87 boats that were seized by Sri Lanka last year for illegally entering its waters.

A senior official in the fisheries department of Sri Lanka told All India Radio that the salvage operation is expected to take a few days and the boats are likely to be towed back by the fishermen later this week.

The boats were released by Sri Lanka ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit as a goodwill gesture.

These boats were seized last year at different times and though the fishermen arrested along with these boats were released from time to time, the boats were held by Sri Lankan authorities to deter further violation of its maritime boundary.

Meanwhile, 43 of the 86 fishermen released on the eve of Prime Minister Modi’s visit on orders of President Maithripala, returned home from Trincomalee Saturday .

Sri Lankan Navy handed them over to the Indian Coast Guard at the maritime boundary. However, the 10 boats of the recently arrested 86 fishermen have not been released.