Pressure on to find missing fisherman

Rameswaram: Fishermen’s organisations and the kin of a missing fisher-folk of Rameswaram on Thursday sought to step up pressure on the Central and State governments to take immediate steps to trace and retrieve the missing fisherman Vilvaraj, even as three of his colleagues, rescued from a sinking boat in the mid-sea by the Sri Lankan Navy a few days back, are on their safe homeward journey.

Vilvaraj had joined three others on a mechanised boat belonging to one Malairaj here and they had left the shores on Sept 26 for fishing. While returning after fishing near the Katchatheevu Island, their boat had developed a dent and began to sink in the mid-sea when a Sri Lankan naval patrol vessel passing by that side rescued three fishermen on board. The boat, damaged by rough seas and speedy winds, had eventually sunk.

Three of the rescued fishermen – Anthony, Soundarapandi and Joseph – who were taken by the Sri Lankan forces to Talaimannar in northern Sri Lanka, have now been sent back to Karaikal, close to Tamil Nadu’s Nagapattinam coast, sources here said on Thursday.

But with no clue yet on the fate of the fourth fisherman Vilvaraj, the latter’s family members and neighbourhood fishermen protested before the Fisheries department office here on Thursday, demanding action by the Central and State governments to hasten the search for the missing fishermen and retrieve him.

Vilvaraj’s wife, in tears, after women-folk took to ‘oppari’ (a song of grief sung by villagers in the event of any death or bad omen), near the Fisheries department office, said that they were all the more worried about her husband’s fate as the rescued fishermen had reportedly said Vilvaraj’s body had been left behind in the boat itself.

The Tamil Nadu mechanised boat fishermen’s welfare association’s state general secretary, N J Bose, expressing shock at the developments, convened an emergent meeting of fishermen here and also demanded governmental action to trace the missing fisherman Vilvaraj. A section of the Rameswaram fishermen have also threatened to go on an indefinite work stoppage if no definitive action came from both the governments, he said.

R. Valayapathy adds from Tiruchi

Meanwhile, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) said in a release in Karaikal that the three Indian fishermen who “drifted inadvertently” into the Sri Lankan waters, were repatriated by the ICG Ship Rani Durgavati, after they were handed over to them by the Sri Lankan authorities, on Wednesday. All the three fishermen, who hail from Ramanathapuram district, were brought to Karaikal port at 4 pm on Thursday. After due investigation/ documentation, all of the fishermen have been handed over to the state Fisheries department accordingly as per the information received from Commandant, Coast Guard Station Karaikal. The assistant director, Fisheries, Mandapam was also present.