Sri Lankan navy arrests 20 Indian fishermen

Twenty fishermen were arrested by Sri Lankan naval personnel on charges of allegedly violating the International Maritime Boundary Line this morning.

Their four boats were also taken into custody, Assistant Director of Fisheries Department Gopinath said.

Eleven of the fishermen belonging to Rameswaram were arrested near Katchatheevu, an islet ceded to Sri Lanka by India in 1974 and they were taken to Talaimannar, he said.

Other fishermen, hailing from Jagadapattinam in Pudukottai district, were arrested near the Sri Lankan coast and taken to Kangesanthurai, he said.

He said a boat had sunk near Katchatheevu and six fishermen in it were rescued by other fishermen and brought here.