Sri Lankan navy has arrested 17 more fishermen from Tamil Nadu yesterday evening taking the total number of Indian fishermen in its custody to 51.
The latest arrests came near south west of Delft island on charges of poaching into Sri Lankan waters. Three fishing trawlers were also taken into custody. A total of 36 fishermen have been arrested by Sri Lankan navy in last couple of days alone.
The arrests came even as a high level meeting between Agriculture Minister of India and Fisheries Minister of Sri Lanka is scheduled to be held in Colombo on 2nd of January. A meeting between Foreign Ministers of the two countries held in November had decided to resolve the issue through regular consultations.
While, fishermen from South have been demanding release of their fellow fishermen and trawlers, their counterpart in Sri Lanka assert that bottom trawling used by Indian fishermen has caused extensive damage to the marine eco-system