Four Indian fishermen apprehended by Sri Lankan Navy

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Neduntheevu (Palk Strait): As many as four Indian fishermen and one boat were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy at Neduntheevu in early morning hours on Sunday.

The apprehended fishermen were handed over to Sri Lankan fisheries department in Kankesanthurai.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa yesterday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to help release the four Indian fishermen, who were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy earlier on Thursday.

At least four Indian fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan Coast Guard with assistance from the Navy earlier on Thursday for allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and fishing in Lankan waters.

The naval personnel arrested the fishermen along with an Indian fishing trawler on northwest of Delft Island, reports the Colombo Page.

This was the second time that Lankan Navy had arrested Indian fishermen from India's southern Tamil Nadu state with mechanized boats after they resumed fishing at the end of its 45 day ban on fishing in the eastern coastal zone earlier on Sunday midnight.

The Navy personnel on May 30 arrested seven fishermen along with a trawler while fishing in Lankan waters northwest of Thalaimannar.