Sri Lankan navy on Saturday handed over 94 Tamil Nadu fishermen taken into custody by them to the Indian Coast Guard at the International Maritime Boundary Line, police said.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Friday dismissed as "wrong reports" about firing on Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy in the last 10 months, but said cases of some excesses by them have been taken up.
Following the death of Iranian sailors in the Indian Ocean, Iran's navy has threatened 'deadly retaliation,' accusing the US of attacking its warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, escalating tensions in the region.
The Sri Lankan Navy on Wednesday released 42 fishermen arrested by it for allegedly violating the International Maritime Boundary Line, a senior Fisheries Department official said.
Sri Lankan Navy, assisted by helicopter gunships, on Saturday destroyed three Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam boats, killing at least 15 of its cadres, while rebels said they sank two naval vessels in a fierce sea battle.
Four more fishermen were on Thursday allegedly taken into custody by Sri Lankan Navy for fishing near Katchatheevu, the second such incident in as many days.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday said the Centre's "inadequate response" to apprehension and detention of Indian fishermen "has emboldened the Sri Lankan Navy to harass" them, and sought a "robust diplomatic response" on the emotive issue.
Sri Lankan navy personnel on Sunday allegedly assaulted four Indian fishermen for not helping one of their colleagues, who fell in their boat while trying to jump in the vessel and suffered a fracture.
The Sri Lankan Navy on Sunday arrested 17 fishermen along with their three boats when they were fishing near Katchatheevu, police said Rameshwaram.
The police confirmed that the boat had not crossed the maritime borders when the firing occurred.
Sri Lanka is deliberating appropriate action after a second Iranian ship sought entry to its territorial waters, following an attack on an Iranian frigate near the island nation. The government is focused on safeguarding lives and regional peace.
The incident occurred about 30 nautical miles from the Indian coast where a group of nine fishermen from Kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu were fishing.
The navy engaged a flotilla of Tamil Tiger boats off the island's northeast and sank one boat, killing 15 rebels.
Sri Lanka has allowed a second Iranian ship, IRINS Bushehr, to dock at Trincomalee port after it reported engine failure, following the sinking of an Iranian frigate. The move comes amidst heightened regional tensions and a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran.
After stepping up attacks on the Union government over India's participation in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka last month, chorus is mounting in Tamil Nadu among opposition parties over the country's offer to train Sri Lankan Naval personnel.
'The food the Sri Lankans gave us was horrible. It used to stink. We used to throw most of it away... In the night my legs used to be in someone's face and his legs used to be in my lap. There was no space... There was no toilet... Both our bathing water and drinking water were salty. We had to beg the guards for clean drinking water.' Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar speaks to Indian fishermen just released from Sri Lankan custody.
Sri Lankan Navy on Tuesday allegedly sank an Indian fishing boat by colliding against it near Katchathivu, and arrested 15 fishermen from this coastal town in separate incidents, police said.
The Sri Lankan Navy on Thursday arrested 32 Indian fishermen for alleged illegal fishing off the east coast, taking the total number of fishermen arrested during the last two days to nearly 70.
The 49 Indian fishermen, arrested by Sri Lankan navy recently, have been released and will return home in a couple of days, Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday said in Chennai.
At least 10 fishermen from this coastal town have been taken into custody by the Sri Lankan navy for reportedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line and fishing in their waters.
Seven Indian fishermen have been arrested by Sri Lankan navy for allegedly poaching in the country's waters in North Western province, media reported on Wednesday.
The arrest comes a day after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam asked the Centre to send a 'firm message' to the island nation over continued apprehension of the state's fishermen.
Amidst escalating regional tensions, Sri Lanka is carefully considering its response after a second Iranian ship requested entry into its waters following a reported US submarine attack on an Iranian frigate near Galle.
At least 101 people are missing and 78 are injured after a suspected submarine attack on an Iranian naval ship off Sri Lanka's southern coast on Wednesday, Reuters quoted sources in Sri Lanka's Navy and defence ministry as saying.
Sri Lanka's Defence Ministry claimed that six attack boats, including two suicide craft, of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were destroyed during a heavy sea battle erupted on Wednesday morning in seas south off Delft.
Sixty-five Indian fishermen in nine trawlers have been detained by the Sri Lankan navy for allegedly violating the international maritime border.
Four fishermen from Tamil Nadu's Nagapattinam district were allegedly attacked by Sri Lankan Navy personnel with wooden logs while they were fishing off Kodiakarai coast in a mechanised boat, official sources said on Thursday. The fishermen, who went for fishing on Wednesday, returned on Thursday morning. They have been admitted to a government hospital with injuries.
Sri Lankan Navy, who on Saturday surprised Indian fishermen trawling near Katchatheevu by offering them soft drinks and sweets, attacked eight fishermen in the Indian territory off Dhamushkodi coast early on Monday, fisheries department sources said.
The US torpedo attack on the Iranian warship IRIS Dena in international waters was a lawful act of war between belligerents, not a diplomatic or strategic embarrassment for India, asserts Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
Indian fishermen trawling near Katchatheevu were in for a big surprise on Sunday when Sri Lankan navalmen not only allowed them to fish but also offered them soft drinks and sweets.
Amidst stepped up pressure to secure the release of over 220 Tamil Nadu fishermen detained in Sri Lanka, 22 more were arrested by the island navy early on Sunday while fishing in the Palk Strait.
They also pelted stones at the fishermen before driving them away
For India, China's Indian Ocean power projection, maritime domain awareness, dual-use ports, underwater surveillance, antisubmarinewarfare, naval exercises with Pakistan, pose considerable pressure, depleted India's strategic depth and marginalises Indian role, points out Srikanth Kondapalli.
Taking up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister E K Palaniswami, in a letter, said the state government was "extremely" concerned over such incidents
Sri Lanka's President Anura Kumara Dissanayake announced that the country refused permission for the US to land two warplanes at Mattala International Airport, citing a commitment to neutrality amidst rising tensions in the Middle East.
'India was not obliged to protect the Iranian ship.' 'Once the Iranian ship left Indian waters, she was on her own.' 'Guilt tripping India is wrong.'
Sri Lankan naval personnel allegedly beat the four fishermen with nylon ropes off Katchatheevu, an islet ceded to Lanka in the 1970s, fisheries department officials said.
India has expressed condolences over the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following a joint US-Israel strike, amidst rising tensions in West Asia and criticism over the sinking of an Iranian warship.
Ten Indian fishermen, arrested for allegedly engaged in illegal fishing in the Sri Lankan waters on Monday, will be charged with the death of a Navy sailor, who was killed in an operation to seize their trawler, authorities in Colombo said.
Amid rising tensions, Iran threatens retaliation after the United States confirms sinking its warship, IRIS Dena, in international waters, escalating conflict in the region.
