IANS/Colombo
The Sri Lankan navy yesterday arrested 26 Indian fishermen who were poaching in Sri Lankan waters off the northern seas, a navy spokesman said.
The navy said that the Indians were on five trawlers when they were detected and arrested for entering Sri Lankans waters illegally.
Navy spokesman Kosala Warnakulasuriya said that the Indian fishermen were to be brought to Kayts islands in the north to be handed over to local fisheries department officials.
Fishermen from both countries often stray into each other’s territory as both countries are divided by a small strip
of sea.
Indian fishermen say India’s gifting of the Katchatheevu Island in the north to Sri Lanka in the 1970s has reduced fishing space available for Indian fishermen.
South India’s Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has been demanding the retrieval of the island so that Indian fishermen could legally use the area to catch fish.
Last month Sri Lanka released a group of Indian fishermen who were arrested for poaching in Sri Lankan waters.
The release came a day after India summoned Sri Lanka’s deputy high commissioner in New Delhi and lodged a strong protest over the arrests.
Separately, Indian defence minister A K Antony said last month that the country’s government had urged Sri Lanka to direct its navy to act with restraint and not to fire on Indian fishermen sailing along the international maritime
boundary line.
His comments came after Indian fishermen accused the Sri Lankan navy of attacking them when they stray into Sri Lankan waters, an allegation that is denied by the navy.