51 fishermen from TN held by Sri Lankan navy

Rameswaram: The Sri Lankan navy apprehended 51 fishermen from Rameswaram and Poompuhar and their seven boats including one which went on a trial voyage on Wednesday night.
About 500 boats sailed from the Rameswaram fishing jetty on Wednesday night. Among them, six boats and 30 fishermen were held by the Lankan navy near Katchatheevu and were taken to Mannar, said marine police sources at Mandapam.Another batch of 21 fishermen from Poompuhar in Nagapattinam district had taken out a 71-feet long boat from Poompuhar on a maiden voyage to test it.
One Velayutham from Poompuhar built the boat intending to use it on multiday fishing. However, they were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy near Jaffna, said U Arulanandam of Alliance for Release of Innocent Fishermen. "The 21 fishermen were produced before Point Pedro court and were remanded till September 25. Rameswaram fishermen may be produced before Mannar court on Friday," he said.
With this, the total number of fishermen arrested by Sri Lanka this month alone has reached 72 since 15 fishermen from Rameswaram were held on September 1 and 2 and another six were held on September 8. The repeated apprehension of fishermen by the Lankan navy has caused despair in Rameswaram coast. "We even lost the drive to take out protests or demonstration. It appears our entire fleet of boats may end up in Sri Lanka rotting in weather," lamented S Emerit, a fishermen leader from Rameswaram.
Rameswaram fishermen have gone on strike more than a month from July 24 to August 31 demanding the release of their boats in Sri Lankan custody. As many as 62 boats were in Lankan custody then and with the boats held on Wednesday, the number of boats in Sri Lankan custody
has gone up to 71. "Our indefinite strike did not work out and we ventured into sea unable to bear the loss of livelihood. But within 10 days, 70 more fishermen are apprehended by Sri Lanka," said B Jesuraja, district secretary of Tamil Nadu Mechanized Boat Fishermen Association.
"We have earlier proposed to our government to buy back our boats and provide us alternate employment. We feel that most of our boats will end up in Sri Lanka by that time," he rued.