Demanding the immediate release of 66 Tamil Nadu and Puducherry fishermen from Sri Lanka, NDA ally PMK today alleged that they were arrested from Indian waters and urged the Centre to warn the neighbouring country that such arrests will affect bilateral ties.
"The assault and arrest of our fishermen is regretful. The Centre should prevail upon Lanka to release them immediately and warn Sri Lanka that bilateral ties will be affected if such arrests continue," PMK founder leader Dr S Ramadoss said in a statement today.
While 43 fishermen were held first, 23 more who were fishing nearby were also arrested, he said.
The fishermen belong to Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu and Karaikal in Puducherry.
Ramadoss alleged that Sri Lankan Navy illegally arrested the fishermen when they were fishing in Indian waters near Kodiakarai in Bay of Bengal adding "this transgression" was strongly condemnable.
The Indian fishermen were arrested by Sri Lankan naval personnel after an alleged clash with fishermen of the island nation yesterday.
