Poachers to be handed over to Indian Navy

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 2004, 12:25 GMT]
Pt. Pedro judge Mr. K. Ariyanayagam ordered that 22 Indian fishermen who were produced in court Friday should be handed over to the Indian Navy through the Sri Lanka Navy in 24 hours. He remanded three Indian boatmen who were produced in court along with the fishermen until 27 February. Fishermen in coastal settlements near Pt. Pedro captured 27 Indians who were poaching in Jaffna’s maritime zone on Wednesday night.

The Pt. Pedro court remanded two Indian boatmen yesterday. Fishermen on Jaffna’s Vadamaradchi coast say that Indians regularly poach in the waters off the peninsula’s coast and that they cut the nets worth millions. They accuse the Sri Lankan armed forces of ignoring their pleas to stop Indian fishermen from poaching in Jaffna waters.