Indian fishermen arrested

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 August 1998, 12:07 GMT]
Two Indian fishermen were severely beaten and arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) in the vicinity of the disputed Kachatheevu island, said sources. Meanwhile, the Gurunagar fishermen's union has issued a report criticising the government's ban on fishing.

Two Indian fishermen, Subramaniyam(35) and Murugan(25) were among a party of four fishermen from Rameshwaram in the southern Indian state of Tamilnadu.

The other two, Singan(45) and Murugan(35) who escaped with injuries, said that they were fishing near the island when the SL navy approached and attacked them and took the other two into custody.

A report issued by the Gurunagar fishermen's union says that the extended ban on deep sea fishing introduced by the military authorities in Jaffna, have rendered their expensive fishing nets useless and these are decaying, unused.

It further says that about 350 trailers remain unused, because of the military's strict order to fish only in shallow waters and only during the day. This effectively means that the fishermen cannot use certain types of nets for better catches.

The report also says the fishermen of the Gurunagar area are severely affected by the ongoing war, and that some 90 fibre-glass boats belonging to these fishermen have been destroyed in military action.