Forty-six local fishermen, who were arrested by Sri Lankan Navy while fishing near Katchatheevu on June 7, were today remanded to judicial custody till June 16 by a Mannar Court.
State 'Q' branch police inspector, Kennedy and Pamban fishermen organisation president U Arulanandam, said the fishermen were produced before Magistrate Aanandhi Kanagarathinam who remanded them to judicial custody. They were later lodged in Anuradhapuram prison.
Similarly, 36 fishermen of Jegathapattinam, who were arrested when they were fishing near Neduntheevu on the same day, were remanded to judicial custody by a Jaffna court till June 20, they said.
After Magistrate Mahendra Raja remanded them, they were lodged in the Jaffna prison.
They also said five local fishermen, who were stranded near Katchatheevu, also on June 7, when their boat developed a technical snag, were arrested and taken to Thalaimannar by the Lankan Navy personnel and kept in a camp there.
Meanwhile, some 1,500 fishermen belonging to Rameswaram, Pamban and Mandapam areas, did not venture into the sea for fishing demanding release of the arrested fishermen.
