Lankan navy arrests four more TN fisherman

Four more fishermen were on Thursday allegedly taken into custody by Sri Lankan Navy for fishing near Katchatheevu, the second such incident in as many days.

The fishermen from Thangachimadam had been taken to Mannar, officials said.

Four other fishermen who were arrested yesterday had been produced before Mannar Court and remanded for a day, as per information received by Assistant Director of Fisheries A Veeran.

The four, reported missing since they put out to sea on Monday, were arrested in mid-sea near Katchatheevu, an islet ceded by India to Sri Lanka under an agreement in 1974, on Wednesday evening. Their arrest came barely a day after 35 fishermen returned home after being released by a Sri Lankan court.

Meanwhile, eight Sri Lankan Tamil refugees arrived in Pudukottai Coast by an illegal ferry today, officials said.

They were arrested for not possessing passport and valid visa, police said.