Twenty-four fishermen from Tamil Nadu, arrested by Sri Lankan Navy on charges of violating International Maritime Boundary Line and lodged in a prison in Jaffna, are on a fast since yesterday demanding their release.
The fishermen are demanding their immediate release along with their boats, according to T Sasuraja, President, Rameswaram Fishermen's Association.
The fishermen, 16 from Pudukottai and eight from here, were arrested by the Navy on Sept 28 when they were fishing near Katchatheevu, an islet ceded to Sri Lanka by India in 1974. A Sri Lankan court ordered to lodge them in a prison in Jaffna.
Meanwhile, fishermen in 631 mechanised boats from here, who went to sea yesterday, returned without fishing today after the Sri Lankan Navy threatened to arrest them.
