4 TN fishermen repatriated by coast guard from Sri Lanka

Rameswaram (TN), Feb 1 (PTI) Four Tamil Nadu fishermen who had strayed into Sri Lankan territorial waters after putting out to the sea were today repatriated along with their fishing boat by the Indian Coast Guard. The fishermen, who had ventured out into the sea for fishing from Jegathapattinam on January 25, did not return to the shores as scheduled the next day after their boat engine suffered a technical snag and the craft drifted to Delft island in Sri Lanka in the Palk Strait. On a message from the Mandapam Coast Guard Station, the Coast Guard regional Headquarters in Chennai contacted Sri Lankan High Commission officials to repatriate the fishermen. A coast guard ship took over the Indian fishing boat with four crew from a Sri Lankan Naval ship at the International Maritime Boundary Line,today, an official release said. PTI Corr/SSN VS