3RD LEAD
SL Navy brutally assaults Tamil fishermen from Mannaar near Ira'nai-theevu islet
[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 February 2016, 12:32 GMT]
The occupying navy of genocidal Sri Lanka on Saturday severely assaulted two Tamil fishermen who were engaged in sea cucumber fishing near Ira'nai-theevu islet, located west of Naachchik-kudaa, where the SL military has been expanding its military positions targeting Tamil Nadu and India in recent years. One of the four fishermen who are from Pa'l'li-munai in Mannaar has sustained serious injuries and was rushed to Jaffna Teaching Hospital. The fate of two young fishermen is not known while the third one is admitted at Mannaar hospital with cut injuries to his hands. The attacking navy men were armed with automatic rifles. They were aggressive and were using abusive terms in Sinhala while assaulting the two Tamil fishermen with knives, the wounded fishermen told TamilNet. The brutal incident has taken place around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Medical sources at Jaffna Teaching Hospital said fisherman Jesu Ranjith was admitted at the Intensive Care Unit.
Four Tamil fishermen from Pa'l'li-munai in Mannaar set out for sea cucumber fishing in a fiberglass boat northwards towards Ira'nai-theevu islet located near Poonakari division of Ki'linochchi district around 6:00 a.m.
Jesuthasan Antony (38), admitted at Mannaar hospital, has sustained injuries at his hands when SL Navy personnel assaulted him using knives at the seas off Ira'nai-theevu.
While they were engaged in diving near Ira'nai-theevu, 7 occupying Sri Lanka Navy sailors fully armed with automatic rifles and accompanied with a masked operative, approached the fishing boat near Ira'nai-theevu islet.
Three of the fishermen were engaged in diving to catch sea cucumbers. The fourth one, 37-year-old Jesu Ranjith, who is the helmsman of the fishing boat, was inside the fishing vessel at that time.
The incident took place around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Ira'nai-theevu is located around 7 kilometers west of Naachchik-kudaa. The map shows only the location of Naachchik-kudaa.
Two armed SL navy personnel, who jumped into the fishing vessel were pointing knives at Jesu Ranjith and wanted to search the fishing vessel for dynamite explosives.
The helmsman, a father of two, who is also known as Robinson, sustained severe injuries when the SL navy personnel brutally assaulted him using knives.
The SL Navy attackers were alleging that the Mannaar fishermen were deploying illegal means to catch sea cucumber using dynamite in the seas off Ira'nai-theevu islet.
One of the three fishermen who were out in the sea noticed the incident and got into the boat to explain their fishing background. 38-year-old Jesuthasan Antony, father of four, who got into the boat, was also attacked. He has sustained injuries at his hand.
The Sinhala navy men who didn't find any trace of dynamite inside their fishing vessel instructed the fishermen to drive the boat towards other fishing vessels. Then, they further attacked them and chased them away.
The two fishermen with injuries had to sail towards Mannaar to reach the hospital.
The seriously injured helmsman, Mr Ranjith (Robinson) has been transferred to Jaffna Teaching hospital while the other fisherman, Mr Jesuthasan is admitted for treatment at Mannaar General Hospital.
The fate of the two other fishermen, 25-year-old Peduru Oranjan and 37-year-old A Jude Deransian are not yet known.
The injured fishermen are worried about their fellow divers.
The strategic Poonakari area and the seas off Naachchik-kudaa have been transformed into a military zone by the occupying Sri Lanka. The naval installations mushroomed along the coast directly target Tamil Nadu.
The SL Navy has been attacking Tamil Nadu fishermen for a long time and the pattern continues despite repeated protests from the State Government in Tamil Nadu.
A few weeks ago, 10 Eezham Tamil fishermen were brutally attacked by the occupying SL Navy when their boat had entered a military zone at Ira'nai-theevu after the engine of the boat had failed.
A move by Colombo to invite China to build an airport of ‘international standard’ at Poonakari during the Rajapaksa regime was abandoned after India's opposition.
On February 04, 2016, the SL military stationed at Poonakari forced the enslaved former Tamil combatants to sing Sinhala national anthem of genocidal Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka's large military establishments that choke Jaffna peninsula and threaten Indian security. Sinhala colonisation is carried out in places no 11, 13, 14, and 16. The locations: 1. High Security Zone, Valikaamam North, 2. Kaarainakar naval base, 3. Vallan, Pungkudutheevu, 4. Periyathu'rai and Saamiththoadda-munai, Delft (Key location for Kachchatheevu and Rameswaram), 5. Kunthavadi, Delft, 6. Thalai-mannaar, 7. Mannaar Fort, 8. Tha'l'laadi, 9. Poonakari Fort, 10. Elephant Pass, 11. Vettilaikkea'ni, 12. Naakarkoayil, 13. Ariyaalai East and the opposite sandbar Ma'n'niththalai, 14. Naavatkuzhi, 15. Ma'ndaitheevu,16. Jaffna city, 17. Kachcha-theevu and 18. Naachchik-kudaa. The innumerable small military posts and the newly planned cantonments in Vanni are not shown in the map. [Satellite Image courtesy: NASA, Visible Earth. Legend by TamilNet]
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