Sri Lankan Navy arrests 6 Indian fishermen

Colombo: Sri Lanka Navy today said it has arrested six Indian fishermen for allegedly fishing in Lankan waters.

The Navy said it assisted the Sri Lankan coastal guards in the seas off Kovilan Point to nab the fishermen last night.

"When the arrest was made the Indian fishermen had been fishing 3.5 nautical miles and 5.2 nautical miles off northwest of Kovilan Point," the Navy said.

The arrested fishermen and their two trawlers have been taken to Karainagar to be handed over to the fisheries authorities, it said.

The arrests came days after the Lankan northern fishing organisations rejected a request from their Tamil Nadu counterparts to discuss the recurring issue of poaching by Indian fishermen in the Sri Lankan waters.