National   

Colombo frees 97 fishermen

COLOMBO: Ninety seven Indian fishermen, who had inadvertently crossed into the Sri Lankan waters on Saturday, were handed over to the Navy as a humanitarian gesture after the Indian High Commissioner, Alok Prasad took up the matter at the ‘highest level.’

A senior official in the Indian High Commission told The Hindu that the fishermen were detained by the Sri Lanka Navy.

They were produced before a court in Jaffna and remanded to custody. The Government of Sri Lanka agreed to release them and their boats after the Indian High Commissioner took up their case with President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

“As per the standard procedure, the fisher folk were escorted out of the Sri Lanka territorial waters by the island nation’s Navy,” the senior official said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Set up SHGs in large numbers, Buddhadeb tells women
BJP to discuss strategy on nuclear deal
BSP to contest all seats in Gujarat
Nandigram: Brinda Karat sees a conspiracy
Unfortunate: Farooq
Australian police had certified Haneef was no threat
AIDWA sets up seven panels
Manmohan to decide on oil price hike
Ramakrishna Math chief passes away
National rating system planned for energy-friendly buildings
Women should be aware of social security schemes, says Kanimozhi
Colombo frees 97 fishermen
Resisting the emergency
TamilNet hails Karunanidhi’s poem
Camaraderie along Indo-Bangla border
It was last day of job for BPO employee
Navy takes charge of 97 fishermen
Nitish must go, says Paswan

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu