Sri Lanka releases 69 TN fishermen arrested for crossing int'l boundaries

Rameswaram: The Sri Lankan courts in Jaffna and Vavunia on Thursday ordered the release of 69 Tamil Nadu fishermen lodged in prisons in Sri Lanka, an official said in Rameswaram.

The fishermen, arrested on various occasions on charges of crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) by the Sri Lankan Navy, would be brought back to Rameswaram after completing necessary formalities, Manikandan, Assistant Director of Fisheries Department said.

A Sri Lankan court had on Wednesday released 20 fishermen, arrested in January and February 2017 on charges of poaching into the island nation's waters, and they were handed over to the Indian Coast Guard at the IMBL by the Lankan authorities.

A total of 89 fishermen from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have been released by Sri Lankan authorities so far in 2017 and 71 were still in various jail in Sri Lanka, he said.