9 TN fishermen detained by Lankan Navy, let off

Rameswaram (TN), Oct 27 (PTI) Nine fishermen from Tamil Nadu were set free by Sri Lankan authorities today within hours of being detained by the island Navy off Dhanushkodi near here, officials said. The fishermen were fishing in Indian waters when the Sri Lankan naval men allegedly assaulted them using rubber pipes and wood before taking them away in their boats, they said. Three boats in which the fishermen had put out to sea returned here with the drivers. Normally Sri Lankan navalmen would arrest the fishermen along with their boats. The fishermen, taken to Talaimannar in northern Sri Lanka, were later let off on the orders of local authorities, officials said adding the they were on their way back home. Marine Police alleged that the Sri Lankan Navalmen intruded into the Indian waters near the fifth sand dune. PTI Corr/SSN VS SS