Lankan boat detained near Kanniyakumari with five crew members

Chennai, May 23 (BPNS)

A  Sri Lankan boat was detained by the Indian Coast Guard for crossing the Indian Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) near Kanniyakumari on Monday night. The boat was fishing in the Indian waters.

An Indian Coast Guard boat ‘Vajra’ detained the Sri Lankan boat, ‘Amul Putha’ which had five crew members in it.

The boat was detained on Monday night and will be brought to the Tharuvilakam marine police station on Tuesday and will be handed over to the marine police.

It may be noted that the Sri Lankan navy had taken into custody several Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu and confiscated the mechanical boats.

The fishermen from Tamil Nadu whose boats were detained by the Sri Lankan Navy have petitioned the Government of India and the Tamil Nadu government for early release of the boats. The fishermen’s associations have complained that the boats have been their source of income and wanted an early release.

A fisherman from Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu while speaking to BPNS said, “The fishermen from Sri Lanka have crossed our marine boundary line and if we had crossed their border, we would have even faced thrashings and confiscation of boats.”