Chennai: Five fishermen from Kasimedu, who went fishing into the deep seas on Friday, failed to return ashore creating panic in the neighbourhood.On Saturday, relatives of the fishermen and locals of Kasimedu fishing hamlet took to the streets demanding help from the cops and Coast Guard to trace the missing fishermen.
According to the locals, fishermen Kadumbadi, (28), Mayandi, (32), Sakthivel, (23), Mani, (25), and Suresh, (23), all residents of Jeevarathnam Nagar in Kasimedu, set off on a fibre boat around noon on Friday and were expected to return the same night. As they failed to return, the families made futile efforts to locate them and later preferred a complaint with the Harbour police station. The Coast Gurd was alerted about the missing fishermen, the police said.
Furious over the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities, locals blocked the Ennore Manali Express on Saturday. They gathered near the Surya Narayana park and demanded that the authorities initiate a search and rescue operation. Cops pacified the protestors and assured that they would mediate with the Coast Guard officials to hasten the search operations after which they dispersed.
Tamil Nadu Meenavar Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary, J. Kosumani, said they would continue protesting until the missing fishermen are found.
