Eight fishermen were injured in separate incidents of attack allegedly by the Sri Lankan Navy while fishing off Kodiakarai coast, fisheries department officials said on Thursday.
In yet another attack, an Indian fisherman was on Thursday injured when Sri Lankan naval personnel allegedly fired at some fishing boats off Kodiakarai coast, about 200 km from Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, fisheries department officials said.
Nine Indian fishermen, detained by Sri Lankan naval personnel after they had allegedly strayed into Lankan waters, were on Wednesday set free by a court in the Island Republic, fisheries department officials here said.
A court in Sri Lanka on Monday ordered the release of ten Tamil Nadu fishermen who were taken into custody by Lankan naval men on July 1, a top official said.
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.
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.
Five fishermen apprehended by Sri Lankan Navy for reportedly fishing in their territorial waters were brought back by the Indian Coast Guard on Monday after the island nation's naval personnel handed them over at the International Maritime Boundary Line.
Assistant Director of Fisheries, Veeran, said the Lankan Navy had informed them through the Coast Guard that the fishermen had landed there by accident on Sunday, and they were to be released on Monday after being found innocent.
The Sri Lankan Navy has taken into custody 23 Indian fishermen hailing from Mandapam and Rameswaram areas when they were fishing in mid sea. Assistant Director of Fisheries Markandeyan said that the reason for the detainment, which took place around 11 pm on Monday night, was not known. The Sri Lankan Navy has also taken their five boats into custody. Authorities came to know about the incident from a fisherman who managed to escape with his boat from the Lankan naval men.
About 30 to 40 fishermen were attacked allegedly by their Sri Lankan counterparts off Kodiakarai coast.
They were arrested by the Sri Lankan navy with assistance from the coastal guard officials, Sri Lankan officials said.
The Sri Lankan navy on Wednesday detained as many as 327 Indian fishermen when they were fishing in the Palk Strait, and later released 227 of them, officials said.
All 40 trawlers which went missing in the Bay of Bengal following a storm were traced on Monday, but two of them capsized leaving seven fishermen missing, officials said.
The fishermen along with their two mechanised boats had been taken to Kankesanthurai Port in northern Sri Lanka.
With the latest arrest, the number of Tamil Nadu fishermen in Sri Lankan custody has risen to 61.
A group of 26 fishermen, 24 from Tamil Nadu and one each from Yanam and Kerala have been detained by Bangladeshi authorities and an appeal to bring them back has been made to the state and Union governments, an NGO for fishermen welfare has said.
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