2ND LEAD (Update)

Sinhala fishermen behind assault on Indian trawlers: Fishermen's Federation

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 July 2015, 10:53 GMT]
While the occupying Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) was watching on, a group of Sinhala fishermen who operate trawlers in the seas off Vadamaraadchi in Jaffna attacked a group of Indian poaching trawlers that had entered into the seas off Chakkoadai in Vadamaraadchi in Jaffna on Wedensday night. The assault was a calculated act to pass the blame on Eezham Tamil fishermen, S. Arulathas, the president of the Federation of Vadamaraadchi Fishermen Associations, told TamilNet on Saturday. The denial from Jaffna fishermen comes following the reports in Tamil Nadu media that Tamil fishermen in Jaffna were behind the attack on Tamil Nadu fishermen on Wednesday.

The occupying SL Navy and the intruding Sinhala operators of trawlers from South want to escalate the conflict between the Eezham Tamil and Tamil Nadu fishermen, the representatives of the Vadamaraadchi fishermen said.

Reports from Tamil Nadu said 17 trawlers were damaged in the attack.

In the meantime, a group of Sinhala fishermen have handed over the fishing nets they had seized from the Tamil Nadu fishermen to the SL Police at Point Pedro.

A large number of Sinhala fishermen operate trawlers in the territorial sea of Eezham Tamils. The intruding trawler operators from South have almost occupied the sea from Eezham Tamils from Point Pedro Katkoava'lam Munai to Mukaththuvaaram in Kokku'laay, which is situated close to Sinhalicised Ma'nal Aa'ru (Weli Oya) division in Mullaiththeevu.

A similar episode was also reported in Vadamaraadchi East recently, the fishermen society further said.