Four SL fishermen in Indian custody [February 19 2011]

Four Sri Lankan fishermen were arrested by the Indian Navy off the coastal town of Rameswaram and their mechanised boat seized for reportedly crossing into the Indian territorial waters yesterday (February 18).

Commander S. Agarwal, Officer Incharge, Naval Detachment, Rameswaram said an Indian naval patrol vessel noticed the boat moving suspiciously near the Fifth Island inside Indian territorial waters this morning and arrested the fishermen.

They were brought to the Naval jetty in Rameswaram and would later be handed over to the Tamil Nadu police for further questioning, he said.

The fishermen are from Gurunagar town near Jaffna in Sri Lanka, he added.

PTI