Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday urged the Central government to secure the release of 12 fishermen and their fishing boat detained by the Maldives Coast Guard.
In a letter to Union Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar, Stalin said that the fishermen were detained on October 23 after they set out for fishing on October 1 from Thoothukudi District in a mechanised fishing boat. He requested Jaishankar to take up the matter with the Maldives authorities to secure their release at the earliest.
MK Stalin letter to S Jaishankar
“I wish to draw your attention to the arrest of 12 fishermen belonging to Tamil Nadu by the Maldives Coast Guard on 23.10.2023,” Stalin’s letter addressed to Jaishankar read.
“The fishermen ventured for fishing on 01.10.2023 from Tharuvaikulam Fish Landing centre, Thoothukudi District, in a Mechanized Fishing boat bearing registration number IND–TN–12–MM-6376,” the letter read.
“It is reported that they have been apprehended by the Maldives Coast Guard on 23.10.2023 near Thinadhoo Island. In this regard, I request you to take up the matter with the Maldives authorities through appropriate diplomatic channels to secure the release of the detained fishermen and their fishing boat at the earliest,” Stalin wrote.
Earlier on Friday, Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai wrote a letter to the EAM to secure the release of twelve fishermen of the state arrested by the Maldivian authorities allegedly for straying into their territorial waters.
Here's what Maldivian Navy says?
As per the news agency ANI, the men hailing from Tharuvaikulam in southern Thoothukudi district were fishing in the southern Arabian Sea and were arrested by the Maldivian Navy on Friday. Maldivian Navy claimed that the fishermen trespassed into Maldivian waters, arrested all 12 of them, and seized the barge. In this regard, information was given to the fishing village of Daruwaikulam by the Maldivian Navy.
Following this, the Barge Owners Association and their relatives have demanded that the Central and State Governments take immediate action to rescue the fishermen arrested by the Maldivian Navy.
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