COLOMBO, July 23: The Sri Lankan Navy on Tuesday arrested nine Indian fishermen and seized their trawlers for allegedly poaching in its territorial waters, officials here said, taking the number of Indian nationals apprehended this year by the island nation in such incidents to 261.
The nine fishermen were arrested, and their two trawlers were seized off the coast of Delft islet in the northern Jaffna peninsula, the Navy said.
On July 11, the Navy said that 252 Indian fishermen were arrested and 35 trawlers seized this year for poaching.
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Earlier this month, Sri Lanka voiced its concern to India over the death of a naval sailor who was killed in an operation to seize an Indian trawler allegedly engaged in illegal fishing in the island nation’s territorial waters.
On June 25, off the coast of Point Pedro in the north, a senior sailor from the Navy Special Boat Squadron sustained critical injuries due to “the aggressive manoeuvres of the Indian trawler, resisting its seizure,” a statement issued by the Sri Lankan Navy said.
The fishermen issue is a contentious one in the ties between India and Sri Lanka, with Lankan Navy personnel even firing at Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait and seizing their boats in several alleged incidents of illegally entering Sri Lankan territorial waters.
The Palk Strait, a narrow strip of water separating Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka, is a rich fishing ground for fishermen from both countries.
Fishermen from both countries are arrested frequently for inadvertently trespassing into each other’s waters. (PTI)
