Sri Lankan Navy arrests 35 Indian fishermen for illegal fishing

Colombo: At least 35 Indian fishermen have been arrested and their four trawlers seized by the Sri Lankan Navy allegedly for illegal fishing in an overnight operation that ended early Monday.

The Navy spokesman Commander Buddika Sampath said the arrests came at the Sri Lankan waters around the northern Jaffna district’s Kankesanthurai area.

The fishermen, arrested for illegal fishing, and their equipment will be handed over to the fisheries inspectorate in the north for further action, the Navy said.

This is the second such arrest by the Navy within a month.

Earlier on October 9, as many as 47 Indian fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan navy and their five trawlers seized at Talaimannar in northern Sri Lanka for alleged illegal fishing in the island nation’s waters.

The fishermen issue is a contentious one in the ties between India and Sri Lanka, with the Sri Lankan Navy personnel sometimes even firing at Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait and seizing their boats for illegally entering Sri Lanka's territorial waters.