Sri Lankan Navy arrests three more Indian fishermen; tension escalates in TN's Rameswaram

Chennai, Dec 30 (IANS) Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu witnessed renewed anxiety among the fishing community after the Sri Lankan Navy arrested three Indian fishermen in the early hours of Tuesday and seized their fishing trawler on charges of poaching in its waters.

The incident has once again brought to the fore the long-standing and unresolved issue of fishermen from Tamil Nadu being detained while fishing in the Palk Strait region.

According to officials from the Fisheries Department in Rameswaram, the arrested fishermen have been identified as Rooban, Nagarajan and Prabhu.

The trio had set out to sea from the Rameswaram fishing harbour late on Monday night after receiving clearance from the authorities.

While fishing near the waters off Neduntheevu (Delft Island), they were intercepted by a Sri Lankan Navy patrol team and taken into custody. Their mechanised trawler was also seized and later taken to the Karainagar Naval Base in northern Sri Lanka.

Officials said that a total of 415 fishing tokens were issued on Monday, permitting local fishermen to venture into the sea.

Most of the boats were expected to return by Tuesday evening. However, news of the arrest spread quickly, triggering fear and uncertainty among the families of fishermen awaiting the return of their kin.

Condemning the latest arrests, V.P. Jesu Raja, a leader of the fishermen’s association in Rameswaram, said the repeated detentions had pushed the community into a state of deep distress.

“Despite repeated appeals from fishermen and state authorities, our livelihood concerns continue to be ignored. The governments of India and Sri Lanka must engage in meaningful dialogue at the highest level to find a permanent solution,” he said.

According to fishermen’s representatives, this is the third such incident in less than a fortnight. In the past 15 days alone, at least 13 fishermen from the region have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy, and three trawlers have been confiscated.

Many of those previously detained were released only after paying heavy fines imposed by Sri Lankan courts, plunging their families into financial hardship.

“With our boats seized and mounting legal expenses, survival has become increasingly difficult. We live under constant fear and uncertainty every time we go out to sea,” Jesu Raja added, urging the Union government to intervene urgently and secure the release of the detained fishermen and their vessels.