24 more Indian fishermen apprehended in Sri Lanka

Colombo Feb 17 (PTI) Sri Lanka police have taken 24Indian fishermen in custody, a day after arresting 112fishermen belonging to the neighbouring country.

The fishermen were apprehended along with their sevenboats and handed over to the Ilawalai police in northernJaffna peninsular yesterday by a group of local fishermen.

On Tuesday, a group of local fishermen had apprehended112 Indian fishermen allegedly straying into Sri Lankanwaters, triggering protests in Tamil Nadu, where the fishermenbelieved to be coming from.

All the 112 fishermen were produced before a PointPedro Magistrate court in Jaffna yesterday and remanded tojudicial custody until February 28.

India last month accused the Sri Lankan Navy ofkilling at least two Indian fishermen.

The incident triggered a flurry of diplomatic activitybetween the two south Asian neighbours following which IndianForeign Secretary Nirupama Rao visited Colombo to seekassurances to prevent such incidents in future.