Three Indian fishermen arrested for poaching in Sri Lankan waters

Sri Lankan Navy arrested three Indian fishermen and seized a mechanized fishing boat for allegedly straying into the territorial waters of the Island nation and indulged in illegal poaching at midnight last night. State fisheries department officials said here this morning that the incarcerated fishermen hailed from Kottaipattinam fishing hamlet in Pudukottai district.

More than 600 fishermen had ventured into the sea for fishing in 146 mechanized fishing boats from Kottaipattinam fishing jetty yesterday morning. When one of the fishing trawlers with three fishermen on board was fishing about 13 nautical miles North-West of the Delft Island, a Fast Attack Craft attached to the Northern Naval Command apprehended them. The fishermen were brought to Kankesanthurai port and handed over to the Assistant Director of Fisheries, Jaffna for onward legal action. This is the sixth instance of arrest of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy this month.