The Indian Coast Guard ship Sarang sailed into Karaikal Port with the final batch of 58 fishermen, released by Sri Lanka, following President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s order last week, here on Wednesday. The arrival of the fishing crew along with their 13 boats also signalled hopes of announcement of dates for the stalled second round of bilateral talks between the fishermen of the two countries. The 58 fishermen were among those arrested on March 4 and March 19 for entering into the territorial waters of Sri Lanka.
Among the released fishermen and boats, 34 fishermen and 10 boats belong to Thanjavur, 15 fishermen and 2 boats belong to Karaikal, 4 fishermen and 1 boat are from Pudukottai, and 5 fishermen are from Ramanathapuram.
As of date, there are no fishermen lodged in Sri Lankan jails, except for the five booked under narcotics two years ago, U.Arulanandam, Alliance for Release of Innocent Fishermen, told The Hindu over phone. “We have reasons to believe that those were foisted charges.”
“Meanwhile, we have applied for permission for recovering the three boats that were recently released by Sri Lanka. The boats from Mandapam are lodged in Kalpatti and out papers are awaiting clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs,” Mr.Arulanandam said.
Even as all boats have been released, the status of the five boats that were attached by Paruthithurai court as Sri Lankan property in August last, remains nebulous.
Eight months on, these boats, two from Karaikal and five from Nagapattinam are yet to be released, and the fishing community here continues to rally around their release.
With the annual fishing ban, just about a fortnight away, it is expected that the trawlers would make at least two fishing tours, to make up for the two-month-long impending lull.
“This is also the time, when Indian trawlers would poach in Sri Lankan waters,” said an official. This apart, two fishermen, whose fibre-reinforced plastic boats that ran adrift due to fuel shortage on Tuesday, are held up in Sri Lanka. The father-son duo Selvarasu and Karan were fishing off Kodiakkarai when their boat had gone adrift off the coast of Jaffna.
According to local reports from the fishing hamlet of Kallar here, the under-age boy is said to have steered the boat, while his father was asleep.
THANJAVUR: Thirty-eight fishermen, belonging to Thanjavur district, released from Sri Lankan prisons, arrived at Sethubavachathiram and Malliapattinam villages in Karaikal on Wednesday evening.
A.Tajudeen, State secretary, Tamil Nadu Meenavar Peravai, who received them said 28 persons belonged to Sethubavachathiram while six belonged to Mallipattinam.
