Five Sri Lankan nationals were held by the Indian Coast Guard after they were found straying in the Indian waters near Tuticorin on Saturday. The crew of Indian Coast Guard vessel, Veera found a fishing boat drifting 62 knots south east off Tuticorin coast with a Sri Lankan flag. They found five Sri Lankan fishermen in the boat and secured them. They were later handed over to the Thermal Nagar police station in Tuticorin on Sunday afternoon.
According to police sources, the Sri Lankan nationals have been identified as Thomas Aquinas Cruz (44), Kalage Telan Tusara Ferreira (28), Gurukula Suryateron Fernando (31), Gurukula Suryaseon Madhusange Fernando (20) and Varnakula Surya Antony Nicholas (33), all from Negambu in Sri Lanka.
The fishermen claimed that they began their voyage on June 7 for deep sea fishing but they developed a technical snag mid-sea and started drifting into the sea. They were pulled into the Indian waters by the strong current, the arrested fishermen claimed. The Sri Lankan nationals were held under the Maritime Zones of India Act, 1981 (MZI Act, 1981), and are being probed by the state and central intelligence agencies.
Meanwhile, fishermen from Rameswaram were chased away by the Sri Lankan Navy when they were fishing on Saturday morning. As many as 650 boats from Rameswaram ventured into the sea and the fishermen were said to be fishing near Katchatheevu.
Personnel from the Sri Lankan navy, who came to spot started chasing them and did not allow them to fish in the area. “They chased us away till afternoon but returned to their base unable to manage the winds, so we resumed our fishing,” a fishermen from Rameswaram said. The chase by Sri Lankan Navy is reported for the first time after the fishing ban ended on May 29.
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