Nine fishermen from Tamil Nadu were set free by Sri Lankan authorities on Saturday within hours of being detained by the island nation's navy off Dhanushkodi near Rameshwaram, officials said.
The fishermen were fishing in Indian waters when the Sri Lankan naval men allegedly assaulted them using rubber pipes and wood before taking them away in their boats, they said.
Three boats in which the fishermen had put out to sea returned to Rameshwaram with the drivers. Normally, Sri Lankan naval personnel arrest the fishermen along with their boats.
The fishermen, taken to Talaimannar in northern Sri Lanka, were later let off on the orders of local authorities, officials said, adding the they were on their way back home.
The marine police alleged that the Sri Lankan naval personnel intruded into Indian waters.