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The Sri Lankan government on Wednesday released 22 of the 66 Tamil Nadu fishermen who were kept in the country's prisons for the past three months on charges of trespassing into the international waters while fishing.
A Tamil Nadu government press release said the fishermen had crossed the international border due to "rough weather" and "engine trouble."
The Jayalalitha government had taken steps to secure their release through the Indian embassy in Colombo.
The Sri Lankan Navy would hand over the fishermen to the Indian Coast Guard authorities, the release said.
The state fisheries minister, K P Rajendra Prasad, would receive the released fishermen at Mandapam near Rameshwaram. Steps were also being taken to secure the release of remaining 44 fishermen.
The families of these 44 fishermen would be paid Rs 50 a day till their release.
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