5 Indian fishermen repatriated by Sri Lanka

Five Indian fishermen who were repatriated from Sri Lanka, arrived at the Karaikal port in Puducherry on Friday.

M. Thangamani (50) of Pattinamcherry in Karaikal district in Puducherry, S. Pradeep (23), his brother S. Arun (21), P. Shanmugavel (25) and K. Gopu (27) all from Jagadapattinam in Pudukottai district in Tamil Nadu were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on October 3 while fishing in the mid-sea off the Pt.Calimere coast.

They were handed over to the Indian Coast Guard at the International Maritime Boundary Line. The fishermen arrived at the port by ‘ICGS Rajtarang’ on Friday morning. The fishermen were received by the Commanding Officer, Coast Guard Station, Karaikal, the Joint Director of Fisheries, Nagapattinam, and the Deputy Director of Fisheries, Karaikal.

The repatriation is part of a bilateral agreement between the India and the Sri Lankan governments. This is the eighth repatriation of Indian fishermen from Sri Lanka to Karaikal this year.

So far, Coast Guard ships repatriated 288 fishermen, including the latest batch of five fishermen.

Source: The Hindu

-Agencies