Sri Lankan police have nearly 140 Indian fishermen into custody after 24 were picked up on suspicion of fishing within Sri Lankan waters.
The latest group was seized by Sri Lankan fishermen off the Jaffna coast who confiscated the Indian vessels and handed over the crews to police.
India's coast guard and Indian navy ships stepped up patrols in Palk Bay, the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait — all of which separate India's southern Tamil Nadu state from northwestern Sri Lanka.
Many of the boats are small wooden vessels suitable for only several men to wield fishing nets. Navigation instruments on board are often non-existent.
This week thousands of Indian fishermen refused to go to sea as a protest against their fellow fishermen being "abducted," as a fishermen's union representative said, by Sir Lankan authorities.
The arrests this month sparked street protests in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu and formerly known as Madras.
Governments of the two countries are watching carefully to dampen any situation and ensure no more deaths occur, as happened in January.
Sri Lanka denied allegations that its navy killed an Indian fisherman during a confrontation between a Sri Lankan patrol vessel and a local fishing boat.
Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, at the time visiting Chennai, said he hoped there would be no more shootings.
"I am told that in the last 10 days two fishermen have been killed. We have good relations with Sri Lanka and are helping them," Mukherjee said. "There is no point in shooting."
Mukherjee said if Indian fishermen stray across an international maritime boundary, they should be arrested but also be subject to due processes of law.
"Our patrol crafts operating off the northern coast have nothing to do with this reported incident," Sri Lankan navy spokesman Capt. Athula Senarath said. "There may be some elements involved in trying to tarnish the good relations we have (with India)."
Also in January an investigation was launched into allegations that an Indian fisherman was killed when the Sri Lankan navy reportedly opened fire on a small vessel.
Earlier this week, local Sri Lankan fishermen had rounded up 112 Indian fishermen, an event watched but not entered into by Sri Lanka's coast guard, Sri Lankan media reports said.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Sri Lanka's actions were harming relations. "This sort of behavior is not acceptable between neighboring countries," he said.
But the head of India's Coast Guard Region East, Inspector General Satya Prakash Sharma, said the Sri Lankan navy boats acted properly in the recent incidents. "If they willfully strayed into their waters, arrest was a step in the right direction," Sharma said.
Both sides have agreed for early release of genuine fishermen and the matter would be taken up with the Sri Lankan government through diplomatic channels as early as possible, Sharma said.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
