SL Navy attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen escalate

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 September 2014, 06:26 GMT]
Two dead bodies have washed ashore in Jaffna on Friday and Sunday and 59 fishermen from Tamil Nadu have been arrested by the occupying Sri Lanka Navy in Jaffna and Mannaar on Friday. One of the dead fishermen was identified as 40-year-old Gnanapirakasam from Rameswaram from a tattoo that depicted AIDMK's "two leaves" party symbol. The other body washed ashore in Vadamaraadchi Munai on Sunday is yet to be identified.

Four Tamil Nadu fishermen were reported missing on 06 September, after the Sri Lanka Navy allegedly attacked their boat.

The Consulate General of India in Jaffna has informed that the body washed ashore on Friday in Ma'nkumpaan has been identified.

In the meantime, Sri Lanka Navy has stepped up arrests of Tamil Nadu fishermen in Jaffna and Mannaar. 59 Tamil Nadu fishermen were arrested in the seas off Jaffna and Mannaar on Friday, according to SL police.

The hostile acts by the SL Navy have intensified after BJP 'Strategic Action Committee' chairman, Subramanian Swamy, went on record stating that Colombo didn't need to return the seized boats and fishing equipments of Tamil Nadu fishermen. Swamy's statement created a storm of reactions in Tamil Nadu.

In the meantime, Sri Lankan military and police have been providing the seized fishing boats and equipment of Tamil Nadu fishermen to Sinhala fishermen from South, who intrude into the waters of Eezham Tamils in the North, Tamil fishermen society representatives in Jaffna told TamilNet on Monday.