Nineteen Indian fishermen detained by the Sri Lanka Navy returned to their home in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, April 10. The Indian High Commission released a statement saying fishermen detained by Lanka were on Tuesday repatriated to India a week after.
"19 Indian fishermen have been repatriated from Sri Lanka and are currently on their way to Chennai, the Indian High Commission here said in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter).
The Navy has so far held 23 Indian trawlers and 178 Indian fishermen for allegedly fishing in the island nation's waters thus far in 2024, and handed them over to authorities for legal action, the Sri Lankan Navy confirmed in a statement late last month.
Fishermen Return to India:
Earlier last week, a total of 19 fishermen from Tamil Nadu were sent to Chennai in an Air India passenger flight from Sri Lanka's Colombo following their arrest by the Sri Lankan Navy on March 6 for crossing the border. The 19 fishermen included nine from Mayiladuthurai, four from Pudukottai, and six from Karaikal in Puducherry state. All of them went fishing in the sea in two boats on March 6.
The families of the fishermen had requested that the central and state governments take action to release the fishermen arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy. Following this, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin immediately wrote a letter to the Union Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar and requested to take action to release the fishermen.