Nine Sri Lankans held for fishing in Indian waters

In a swift sea-air operation Wednesday night, the Indian Coast Guard apprehended two Sri Lankan fishing boats with nine crew members for fishing in Indian waters.

In a statement issued here Friday, the Coast Guard said its aircraft detected two boats during night surveillance Jan 29.

"The information was immediately passed to Coast Guard ship Rajkamal tasked for surveillance off Tamil Nadu coast," it said.

The two Lankan boats were escorted to Chennai and handed over to police Jan 30.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Jan 30 on the detention of 38 Indian fishermen Jan 29 by the Sri Lankan Navy while fishing in Palk Strait.

The letter said: "It appears to me that this incident is an attempt by elements in the Sri Lankan Navy to deliberately spoil the conducive atmosphere created by the recent talks."

Jayalalithaa's letter was released to media Friday.