The Sri Lankan Navy has arrested 34 fishermen, including 20 from Thangachimadam near Rameswaram and another 14 from Karaikal in the early hours of Thursday.
Two mechanised boats carrying about 20 fishermen from Thangachimadam were reportedly held by the Sri Lankan Navy personnel near Neduntheevu island.
According to the Fisheries Department and Central agencies, preliminary inquiries revealed that nine fishermen from Thangachimadam had gone on a boat owned by Mariasingam of Valasai Street, and another 11 had ventured into the sea in a boat owned by Subramani of Rajiv Gandhi Nagar. The inquiries indicated that the 11 fishermen had not obtained tokens from the Rameswaram jetty, a source in the Fisheries Department said.
Meanwhile, fishermen leader Jesu Raja said that they have information that the Lankan Navy has also arrested 14 fishermen from Karaikal and unconfirmed reports stated that six other fishermen were held near Trincomalee and two boats were seized, he added.
In all, 396 tokens were issued from Rameswaram jetty on Wednesday, the officials said.
