Rameswaram: Sri Lankan Naval personnel
on Sunday allegedly tortured a group of fishermen from Tamil Nadu
and threw four of them into the sea while they were fishing in
their "traditional" fishing area away from Katchatheevu.
As many as 552 fishing boats were forced to return to the
Dhanushkodi shores near here in view of the incident,
Fisheries department officials said quoting the fishermen.
The Sri Lankan Naval personnel also damaged the fishing
nets of 15 boats and tortured some fishermen asking them to
carry ice bars on their head for two hours, the fishermen
alleged.
Anderson, one of the fishermen who returned to the shores,
said his four colleagues who were pushed into sea managed to
swim and get onto a boat.
Officials said the Sri Lankan Naval men also warned that
they would take very tough action from tomorrow if they were
seen in the area.
In the past few months, several instances of attacks on
Tamil Nadu fishermen allegedly by Sri Lankan Navy have been
reported.
Voicing concern over the frequent attacks, Chief Minister
J Jayalalithaa has recently told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
that such incidents should be viewed as "an act of provocation
and aggression" against India.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, October 23, 2011, 20:04