Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on Sunday wrote to defence minister Rajnath Singh to expedite search for 16 Indian fishermen — 12 from Kanyakumari district and four from West Bengal – who went missing during cyclone Tauktae while they were fishing in the Arabian Sea. On May 5, the 16 fishermen went fishing on a fishing vessel from the Beypore fishing harbour in Kerala. The 16 fishermen could not be contacted after cyclone Tauktae. The Indian Coast Guard launched a search for them. Stalin said the families of the missing fishermen and fisherfolk were deeply distressed and anxious as there was no news about them till date – even days after the extremely severe cyclone made its landfall and hit Gujarat on May 17. He requested the defence minister to take steps to rescue them immediately. On Saturday, the kin of the missing fishermen from Kanyakumari district made a representation to the defence and fisheries ministers and CMs of Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala though the district collector to rescue the fishermen. The missing Kanyakumari fishermen are Arockia Rabi, Mahendra, Sahaya Antony, Antony and Alexander of Colachel, Anthoniadimai and Ratheese Benojan of Muttom, George Thilagan and Vijayan of Agastheeswaram, Michael Jackson of Kadiyapattanam, Sahaya Kabilan of Thuckalay and Rajan of Melpuram. The fishermen from West Bengal are Sudheer, Sushan Das, Sambu Das and Krishnan.
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