Around 35 Indian fishermen from Nagapattinam district were reportedly attacked and robbed by Sri Lankan perpetrators in seven separate incidents near the International Maritime Boundary Line on the night between Monday and Tuesday. The victims, divided into nine groups from villages like Arukatuthurai, Vellapallam, Pushpavanam, and Seruthur, were engaged in fishing activities southeast of Point Calimere. While three groups from Arukatuthurai were aboard mechanized boats, the rest, including two groups from Arukatuthurai, two from Vellapallam, and one each from Pushpavanam and Seruthur, were on motorized boats.
Suspected Sri Lankan attackers on speed boats initiated the assaults around 5 pm on Monday. These assailants confronted the fishermen near the IMBL, using weapons to attack them and forcibly taking away their nets, transceivers, GPS devices, mobile phones, batteries, torch lights, and even their catch of fish. J Bhaskar, a 53-year-old from Arukatuthurai, recounted how multiple speed boats surrounded their vessel, with the Sri Lankan assailants verbally abusing them before resorting to violence to coerce them into surrendering their equipment.
In this series of incidents, at least 35 fishermen became victims of aggression and theft, marking a distressing occurrence for the fishers operating in that region.
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