16 more Indian fishermen released

COLOMBO, JULY 23.Sri Lanka today released a second batch of 16 Indian fishermen from custody, taking the total to 38 out of the 66 languishing in a Jaffna prison for almost three months for poaching in their territorial waters.

Indian High Commission officials said the fishermen would be taken by the Sri Lankan navy to the international- maritime line boundary and handed over to the Coast Guard.

A Jaffna magistrate, who heard their petition, ordered their release on humanitarian grounds. But the 18 boats in which they had entered the Sri Lankan waters have not been released.

From April to June this year, the Sri Lankan police arrested 66 Indian fishermen for illegally poaching in Sri Lankan waters near the Jaffna peninsula.

The first batch was arrested on April 18. It was followed by two more batches on May 11 and 12, and the latest in June. Sevnty- three Sri Lankan fishermen have been lodged in Indian jails for similar offences of poaching in Indian waters.

- UNI

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Section  : International
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