24 TN fishermen arrested by Sri Lanka Navy

Rameswaram, June 5: Twenty four Indian

were arrested by

navalmen when they were fishing near Katchateevu today, officials said.

The fishermen were arrested on the charge of intruding into Sri Lankan territory, fisheries department officials and Innocent Fishermen's Association Arulanandham said.

As many as 785 fishing boats put out to sea, and of them, six boats had been detained and comandeered to Talaimannar Coast of Sri Lanka by the Lankan navalmen, officials said.

This is the first instance of arrest of fishermen after the end of the annual breeding season 45-day ban on mechanised trawling, which began on April 15.

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has been pressing for retrieval of the Katchatheevu island, ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974, to prevent arrests and attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen.

PTI