Three fishermen of Arcottuthurai near Vedaranyam were injured in an alleged attack against them by Sri Lankan fishers on Friday.
According to official sources, Sivakumar, Siva and his father Chinnathambi had ventured into the sea on Friday on a boat owned by Sivakumar. When they were fishing in the water close to the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) southeast off Vedaranyam, a group of 10 armed Sri Lankans on board two fibre boats of Sri Lanka intercepted them.
Claiming that the Indian fishermen trespassed into Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, the Sri Lankans, apparently fishermen, attacked them. While Sivakumar was attacked with a knife Siva and Chinnathambi were attacked with an iron rod. The Sri Lankans seized the fishing gears, Global Positioning System (GPS) and the day's catch worth around ₹5 lakh from the Indian fishing boat, sources said.
The injured fishermen returned to the shore in Vedaranyam on Saturday, September 25 morning and were referred to the Government Hospital in Nagapattinam for treatment.
Collector Arun Thamburaj, after enquiring the incident told The Hindu that the matter had been taken to the notice of Indian Coast Guard and Coastal Security Group.
