Colombo: Indian fishermen arrested for allegedly fishing illegally in Sri Lankan waters have been released. 17 Indian fishermen arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy were sent back to India today. All these Indian fishermen who had gone out to catch fish were caught in the net of the Sri Lankan Navy. After following all the legal procedures, all of them have now been freed. The Indian mission gave this information. This incident happened just a few days after the arrest of 21 Indian fishermen, who were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy and sent back to Chennai from Colombo on August 2.

On Wednesday, the Indian Mission in Sri Lanka wrote in a post on the social platform ‘X’ with a picture of all the fishermen, “Heading towards home. 17 Indian fishermen have been successfully repatriated from Sri Lanka. The fishermen issue is a contentious topic in bilateral relations, with Sri Lankan naval personnel firing on Indian fishermen in the ‘Palak Strait’ area and seizing their boats in several alleged incidents of illegally entering Sri Lankan waters.

Sri Lanka alleges

After the release of the fishermen, Sri Lanka claims that Indian authorities also adopt a similar attitude. The Palk Strait area is a rich fishing area for fishermen of both the countries. Here they are often arrested for inadvertently entering each other’s waters.