Take up fishermen issue with Sri Lanka: Jayalalithaa to PM

Expressing anguish at the arrest of 50 Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy Tuesday, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up the issue with the island nation through diplomatic channels.

In a letter to Modi, the text of which was released to the media here, Jayalalithaa said: "I once again request you to immediately take up the issue of frequent apprehension of our fishermen and their boats by the Sri Lankan Navy at the highest diplomatic levels so as to secure the immediate release of all the 93 fishermen from Tamil Nadu, including the 43 fishermen apprehended earlier and the 62 boats, including the 55 boats impounded earlier, from Sri Lankan custody."

Jayalalithaa said she was deeply anguished to bring to Modi's notice the arrest of 50 fishermen from Tamil Nadu by the Sri Lankan Navy.

The fishermen had set out from the Nagapattinam fishing base in Nagapattinam district and were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy in the early hours of Tuesday and taken to Kankesanthurai in Sri Lanka, she said.