Sri Lankan Navy arrests 17 Tamil fishermen

Chennai: Sri Lankan Navy arrested seventeen fishermen from Tamil Nadu's Pudukottai district on Thursday for crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and trespassing into the Island nation's territorial waters.

The arrested fishermen were from the Jagadapattinam coastal village in the Pudukottai district.

According to Tamil Nadu coastal police, the fishermen were in three boats and were fishing at Neduntheevu when they were intercepted at around 4 a.m.

Sri Lankan naval officers reached the spot and took the 17 men into custody and also seized their boats.

They were taken to Kankesanthurai naval base for further questioning.

The fishermen had left the Pudukottai coast on Wednesday morning.

With inputs from IANS