Seven Indian fishermen detained by Sri Lankan Navy in Palk Strait

Rameswaram : The Sri Lankan Navy on Thursday detained seven Indian fishermen along with two boats near Neduntheevu Island in the Palk Strait.

The fishermen from Mandapam near were fishing at Neduntheevu, close to the island nation's coast and taken to Kangesanthurai port there, Assistant Director of Fisheries, Gopinath said.

Two boats used by them were also impounded by the navalmen, he added. On July 9, three fishermen from Jagadapattinam in Pudukottai District were detained off Karainagar in northern Sri Lanka, for allegedly fishing in the Lankan waters.

The Tamil Nadu government has maintained that the retrieval of Katchatheevu, an islet ceded to Sri Lanka in the 1970s, was the only solution to the vexed fishermen's issue.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Palaniswamy, on Monday, said that 9 July's arrest and the recent legislation enacted by the Sri Lankan Parliament regarding impounding of boats and imposing huge fines on Indian fishermen caused "fear and unrest" among the fisherfolk. This is the third instance of arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Lankan Navy this month.