Five Lankan fishermen held

The Indian Coast Guard has apprehended five Sri Lankan fishermen with a mechanised boat, from the Exclusive Economic Zone in the Indian waters off Nagapattinam. The boat and the crew were brought to the Coast Guard station at Mandapam. After joint interrogation by security and intelligence agencies, the fishermen were handed over to the Mandapam police for investigation and follow-up.

Coast Guard officials said around 500 kg of fish was found in the vessel, which was seized under Section 3/10 and 7/14 of Maritime Zones Act 1981. Nadishan (20), Chandanan (38) and Suraj (33) were among those arrested. All of them are Sinhalese. They reportedly set out for deep-sea fishing on July 2 from the Matharai area.