A Sri Lankan court on Friday released 11 Indian fishermen who had been detained for poaching in the territorial waters of the island nation in two different incidents.
The court ordered their release on the condition that they will be locked up for 18 months if they are caught again in a period of ten years. The court also ordered the confiscation of their two fishing crafts. The 11 Indian fishermen from Jegathapattinam in Pudukottai district were caught on July 4 and 11 by the Sri Lankan navy. They were lodged in local prisons. On Friday, they were brought to Oorkavalthurai court. The court ordered their release.
Fisheries officials at Chennai said that the released fishermen might be repatriated by flight as the mid-sea transfer of released fishermen was not happening now.
Another 12 Indian fishermen – seven from Mayiladuthurai district of Tamil Nadu and five from Karaikal in the Union territory of Puducherry – are also waiting to be repatriated from the country. They were apprehended on July 3 and were released by Oorkavalthurai court on July 8. Fishermen sources said that Sri Lanka, bogged down by the economic crisis, is not in a mood to detain fishermen for long and feed them in prisons. But the country continues to detain the fishing crafts which is breaking the livelihood source of fishermen, according to them.