Sri Lankan Navy arrested 35 Tamil Nadu fishermen for allegedly drifting across the invisible International Maritime Boundary Line while chasing schools of fish in the resource-rich Palk Strait, plunging coastal villages into panic and reigniting a decades-old diplomatic firestorm between India and its island neighbor. The sweep netted 31 seasoned fishermen from the bustling ports of Akkaraipettai, Nambiyar Nagar, and Velankanni in Nagapattinam district, alongside four additional crew members from Ramanadhapuram, leaving tearful families huddled on shorelines awaiting news of their loved ones now vanished into foreign custody.
Three fully-equipped mechanised trawlers—registered to owners P Anandakumar, R Pari, and P Raja—were forcibly boarded and confiscated mid-voyage after setting sail from Nagapattinam harbour on Thursday and Saturday respectively, their powerful engines silenced as Sri Lankan vessels towed them away under floodlights. Separately, a smaller motorised boat carrying the Ramanadhapuram quartet was ambushed and impounded, with all five vessels now locked in Kankesanthurai port, stripping fishermen of their only source of income and stranding them far from home.
Under tight naval escort, the 35 detainees were marched to Kankesanthurai naval base and are scheduled for rapid court proceedings where prosecutors will push poaching charges that could slap; if history is any guide; result in hefty fines, months of imprisonment, or permanent forfeiture of boats worth lakhs. Tamil Nadu fisheries officials confirmed the arrests unfolded without prior warning or diplomatic courtesy, fueling accusations of overreach and deliberate harassment despite repeated pleas for joint patrols and sustainable fishing agreements.
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The mass detention has triggered an immediate political storm, with Tamil Nadu leaders slamming Colombo’s aggressive tactics and demanding urgent intervention from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to secure the fishermen’s unconditional release, return of seized vessels, and compensation for lost earnings. Coastal communities warn that without a binding bilateral pact, such midnight raids will continue to devastate thousands of families dependent on the perilous yet vital cross-border fishery that sustains entire economies along India’s southern seaboard.
As outrage ripples from Nagapattinam to New Delhi, the episode lays bare the human cost of an unresolved maritime dispute that has seen over 600 Indian fishermen arrested and 150 boats confiscated in the past five years alone. With emotions running high and livelihoods hanging by a thread, the clock is ticking for swift diplomacy to prevent this latest crisis from spiraling into a full-blown diplomatic showdown over the shimmering yet treacherous waters of the Palk Strait.
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