Chennai, July 13: In yet another mid-sea confrontation, seven Indian fishermen from Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy in the early hours of Sunday for allegedly crossing the International maritime boundary line (IMBL), police officials said.

Their mechanised trawler was also seized.

According to the police, the arrested fishermen were on a boat owned by V. Isaac Paul of Thangachimadam.

They were part of a larger fishing fleet that had ventured outside on Saturday after receiving tokens from the Fisheries department -- a total of 456 trawlers were issued tokens for that day.

The fishermen arrested have been identified as B. Ruther (40), P. Edison (48), and M. Jegadeesh (42) of Thangachimadam; A. Shanmugam (56) and F. Dalvin Raj (42) of Rameswaram; M. Sakthivel (43) of Keerathurai in Madurai; and Anbalagan, whose native place is being verified.

Officials said the Sri Lankan Navy intercepted the Indian boat after it allegedly breached the IMBL and took the fishermen into custody.

They were escorted to the Kankesanthurai port along with the seized vessel and were later lodged in Jaffna prison.

In a separate incident on the same day, another Indian trawler sustained damage after collision with a Sri Lankan Navy patrol boat near the contested waters between Katchatheevu and Neduntheevu.

The trawler, owned by Maria Seeron, was fishing in the area when the patrol boat approached them, reportedly to question the crew.

In the process, the naval vessel allegedly rammed into the Indian boat, causing significant damage.

Despite the impact, all seven fishermen on board -- identified as Stalin, Muneeswaran, Viyakulam, Columbus, Nagesh, Stephen, and Sarathkumar -- managed to navigate their damaged vessel back to Rameswaram jetty safely, Fisheries Department sources confirmed.

These twin incidents have once again drawn attention to the persistent maritime tensions between Indian fishermen and the Sri Lankan Navy, particularly in the waters near Katchatheevu, a region frequently patrolled by Sri Lankan forces and heavily relied upon by Indian fishermen for their livelihood.

Local authorities are expected to take up the issue with the Central government for diplomatic intervention.

--IANS

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