Four Indian fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on charges of poaching, the media reported on Thursday.
Sri Lankan naval personnel attached to the Northern Naval Command in a Fast Attack Craft arrested the four fishermen along with a fishing trawler “engaged in illegal fishing practices in territorial waters off the Kovilam Lighthouse” on Wednesday, Colombo Page reported.
The fishermen, who hail from Tamil Nadu, were taken to the naval base at Elara in Sri Lanka and later handed over to the Assistant Director of Fisheries in Jaffna for further action, the report said.
Fishermen of the two countries are often jailed for accidentally crossing into each other’s territory. They traverse a poorly defined boundary in the international waters as most fishing boats lack technologies to locate exact positions.