13 Lankan boats, nine fishermen in India's custody: MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said India has apprehended 13 Sri Lankan boats and nine boats, while they were fishing in the Indian waters.

"Currently there are 27 Indian fishermen and 79 boats in custody of Sri Lanka. As far as we are concerned, earlier we had eleven Sri Lankan boats in our custody. However yesterday, two Sri Lankan boats along with nine crew were apprehended by the coast guard. They were found fishing in Indian waters and had 1500 kilos of Tuna on one boat and 1000 kilos on the other. We have 13 Sri Lankan boats and nine Sri Lankan fishermen in our custody," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

As many as 9 Sri Lankan fishermen in two mechanised boats were detained by the Indian Coast Guard personnel for violating the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and also for involving in poaching off the coast of Nagapattinam.

As much as 2,500 kilogram of illegal catch found in the two Sri Lankan fishing vessels were also confiscated by the coast guards on board the patrol vessel ICGS Sagar.