16 TN fishermen released by Sri Lanka return home

Sixteen Tamil Nadu fishermen, set free by a Sri Lankan court after they were arrested earlier this month on the charges of violating international maritime boundary of the island nation, arrived here today.
The fishermen from Tharuvaikulam village, who put out to sea from Nagapattinam on February 27 in three mechanised boats and one country-boat, were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on March 3 off Kalpittiya in the north of Sri Lanka.
The fishermen were ordered to be released by a court in Kuthalam in Sri Lanka on March 11 following which they returned here this morning along with their boats, officials said.

The Tamil Nadu Government had yesterday said the fishermen had been released following efforts taken by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa who twice wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his intervention.