A Sri Lankan court on Tuesday ordered the release of 56 Indian fishermen who were detained for allegedly fishing in the island nation's territorial waters.
More than 2200 fishermen in about 596 boats were fishing in the sea near Katchatheveeu, an islet ceded by India to the island nation, when the Navy personnel came on four boats and intecepted them.
While the nation deliberates on how it deserves a seat in the United Nations' Security Council and flexes its nuclear muscle against China, an island nation is dictating where Indian fishermen can fish and shoots them at will. While Bensegar and 61 others were undergoing an ordeal, Indian Defence Minister A K Antony was giving a lecture on 'Terrorism from the sea' in New Delhi.
Sri Lankan Naval personnel allegedly attacked some fishing boats and arrested 23 Tamil Nadu fishermen when they were fishing near Katchatheevu in the Palk Straits on Sunday, said officials of the fisheries department.
The Sri Lankan navy on Sunday allegedly took away forcibly the catch netted by fishermen who put to sea from Rameswaram, when they were fishing near Katchatheevu in the Palk Straits, fisheries department officials said.
With the latest arrest, the number of Tamil Nadu fishermen in Sri Lankan custody has risen to 61.
In yet another incident over a week, a fisherman was injured on Tuesday when Sri Lankan naval personnel allegedly attacked three fishing boats from Rameshwaram in the Palk straits, officials 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.
Nine fishermen from Tamil Nadu had been taken into custody by the Sri Lankan navy on charges of crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line.
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.
The Tamil Nadu government on Monday denied reports that the Sri Lankan navy had allegedly attacked fishermen belonging to the state on Sunday.
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.
Julien suffered bullet wounds on his right hip.
Amid reports that LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran and his top aides may try to flee, Sri Lankan Navy in a pre-dawn attack sank six rebel boats and foiled seven attempts by Tigers to recapture Rektavaikkal fortifications, which have left the Tigers vulnerable.
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.
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.
Thirteen fishermen from Tamil Nadu have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly poaching in Lankan territorial waters.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay has ordered the closure of 717 retail liquor outlets across the state, responding to public demand, particularly from women and political parties.
In the third such attack in as many days, six fishermen, who ventured into the sea from here, got injured when they were attacked allegedly by Sri Lankan naval men off Kodiakarai coast, fisheries department officials said on Saturday. The fishermen of Kilinjalmedu fishing hamlet were fishing in Indian waters a few knots South East off Kodiakarai last night when the Lankan Navy personnel arrived there on a fast craft and allegedly attacked them with iron rods.
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.
The Lankan Navy also seized three boats.
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.
With this, the number of fishermen arrested for allegedly fishing in Lankan territorial waters have gone up to 44 since July 3.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sri Lankan fishermen attacked the Indian fishermen with stones, before boarding the Indian boats.
The police confirmed that the boat had not crossed the maritime borders when the firing occurred.
They also pelted stones at the fishermen before driving them away
The incident occurred about 30 nautical miles from the Indian coast where a group of nine fishermen from Kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu were fishing.
Expressing dismay over reports of Indian Coast Guard participating in naval exercises with Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Saturday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to recall the two ships and Coast Guard personnel participating in the event in the island nation.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The arrest came as the group was departing Point Pedro in the northern Jaffna peninsula, Naval spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya said, adding that among the arrested, 38 were men, 28 women and 14 children.
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.
