136 Indian fishermen detained by Lanka released

Sri Lanka on Friday released 136 Indian fishermen who were apprehended for allegedly poaching in its waters, a day after India conveyed its deep concern over their detention and sought their release.

The Indian fishermen along with their boats were released by Sri Lankan authorities after a court order. They will be escorted to Indian maritime border by the Sri Lankan Navy, a defence official said.

The move followed a high-level meeting between the Sri Lankan defence official and Indian diplomats in Colombo. Out of the 136 Indian fishermen, 112 were caught last Tuesday by a group of local fishermen and handed over to the police there.

Reacting to the incident, India on Thursday conveyed its "deep concern" over the detention of fishermen and asked the Sri Lankan government to take "necessary" steps to get them released.

"I have just had a telephonic conversation with the Minister of External Affairs of Sri Lanka G L Peiris and I have conveyed India's deep concern at the detention of nearly 136 fishermen in Jaffna district," External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had said in New Delhi.

"I have also conveyed my deep regret that Sri Lankan nationals and Sri Lankan fishermen have taken law into their own hands and confronted our fishermen," he added.

The arrests had triggered protests in Tamil Nadu where over 5,000 Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam workers, including party MPs Kanimozhi and T K

S Elangovan, had been arrested when they tried to take out a rally to the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission.

India had last month accused the Sri Lankan Navy of killing at least two Indian fishermen. This had triggered a flurry of diplomatic activity between the two south Asian neighbours following which Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao visited Colombo to seek assurances to prevent such incidents in future.