By T.S.V. Hari, IANS
Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu) : Twelve Indian fishermen arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy were released Thursday after 10 days in captivity. They were handed over at midday to an Indian naval vessel in the high seas.
The fishermen reached this temple town Thursday evening after they were handed over to the Indian Naval vessel Chittoor Rani Chennamma.
The actual transfer took place near the coast in Kodiakkarai, some 250 km to the north in Tamil Nadu, as it is closer to Kankesanthurai, the northern port of Sri Lanka where the Indian fishermen had been detained following their capture Jan 21.
The Tamil Nadu government announced in the assembly Wednesday that authorities in Sri Lanka had indicated that the Indian nationals would be released immediately.
It had also appealed to Rameshwaram fishermen to end their five-day old strike demanding the de-mining of the Palk Straits. The Sri Lankan navy has mined the sea to cut off supplies to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
The fishermen are in no mood to relent because they feel that their livelihood has been affected due to the mining.
The DMK regime has maintained a studied silence on the matter.
Pro-LTTE outfits in Tamil Nadu, including the Dalit Panthers of India, have demanded that the central government insist on the removal of the floating mines and get back the Kachatheevu atoll ceded to Sri Lanka in the mid-seventies by the Indian government, and thereby help the Indian fishermen.