Ninety nine Indian fishermen who were arrested on poaching charge and lodged in Lankan prisons were released on Tuesday, U. Arulanandham, president of Indian Alliance for the Release of Innocent Fishermen (ARIF) said. After their release, 35 fishermen were accommodated in Jaffna, 20 in a camp in Colombo and 44 in Vavuniya prison, he said. They were likely to be repatriated this morning, he said, adding 64 fishermen from Thoothukudi, Mandapdam and Rameswaram were likely to be brought here from Talaimannar, while 35 others to Karaikal from Kankasanthurai, the Hindu reports. Amid reports that Sri Lanka has ordered the release of 99 Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu languishing in its prisons, the Sri Lankan Coast Guard has arrested four Rameswaram fishermen with their trawler on a poaching charge. The fishermen, who had set out for fishing from the fishing jetty on Monday, were fishing near southwest of Delft island, when the Lankan Coast Guard, assisted by the Navy, arrested them on Tuesday, according to reports. Later, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Department officials in Kankasanthurai produced them before Kayts court, which remanded them in judicial custody in Jaffna prison until April 19, the sources said.
The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.