T' Nadu pressure - 12 South Indian fishermen released by Sea Tigers

Twelve South Indian fishermen who went missing from March this year were found at the Pisath Point at Rameswaram on Friday evening and it has been now confirmed that they were abducted by the Sea Tigers, reports from Chennai said.

Twelve fishermen, eleven from Tamil Nadu and one from Kerala went missing on March 6 while they were fishing in the Palk Straits. The eye witnesses confirmed that they were abducted at gunpoint.

There was a big hue and cry among the fishing communities in the southern part of Tamil Nadu and their agitation even echoed at the Tamil Nadu State Assembly where the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanithi made a statement a few weeks ago that he had ample evidence to prove that those fishermen were abducted by the LTTE.

Reports from Chennai said it was following the protests and agitation escalating in Tamil Nadu over the abduction of the twelve fishermen the 'Sea Tigers' who were responsible for the abduction had released the entire twelve fishermen without causing any danger to their lives.

Six of the twelve South Indian fishermen were released first at Pisath Point in Rameswaram on Friday evening and another six were released a few hours later at the same point on the same evening, reports said.

A special police team from Rameswaram took all twelve fishermen to Chennai for further investigations soon after they were found at Pisath Point, reports said.

The reports added that the LTTE had planned to discredit the Lankan Navy with the abduction of the twelve fishermen.

However, the recent arrest of six LTTE suspects in Tuticorin had confirmed the 'Sea Tigers' involvement in the abduction, reports said.

Meanwhile, the Chief of the Indian Navy's Southern Command Vice Admiral Prem Suthan had surveyed the coastal belt of Rameswaram and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and made fresh directives to Naval personnel to be more vigilant on the LTTE movements in the Indian ocean.

New radar stations and satellite information points have also been set up by the Indian Navy along strategic locations in the Tamil Nadu coastal belt, reports said.