Navy arrests, President releases 29 Indian fishermen

Wednesday, 4 June 2014 00:13 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has ordered the release of 29 fishermen arrested on Sunday (1) in a “goodwill gesture” officials at the Presidential Secretariat said. The release comes as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha in New Delhi yesterday, for talks that would also focus on Sri Lanka and the Palk Bay fishing crisis. Sri Lankan Naval personnel arrested 29 fishermen fishing near Katchativu Island off Mannar and seized six boats on Sunday. The fishermen were produced before the Mannar magistrate and remanded until 16 June, but have now been released by Presidential order. Just before Indian Premier Modi’s swearing in ceremony last week, President Rajapaksa also released another batch of Indian fishermen in custody. Over 100 fishermen were also released by the President following India’s decision to abstain at the US led resolution setting up an international investigation into the last seven years of the war at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in March this year.