Tamil Nadu CM Stalin requests Centre to secure release of detained fishermen by Maldivian Coast Guard
Oct 28, 2023
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 28 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday in a letter addressed to the Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar requested to secure the release of 12 Tamil fishermen detained by the Maldivian Coast Guard.
"The fishermen ventured for fishing on October 10, 2023, from Tharuvaikulam Fish Landing centre, Thoothukudi District, in a Mechanized Fishing boat bearing registration number IND-TN-12-MM-6376. It is reported that they have been apprehended by the Maldives Coast Guard on October 23, 2023, near Thinadhoo Island," CM Stalin stated in the letter to the EAM.
He further urged the EAM to take up the matter with the Maldives authorities to secure the release of the detained fishermen as well as their fishing boat.
"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," the letter mentioned.
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.
The men hailing from Tharuvaikulam in southern Thoothukudi district were fishing in the southern Arabian Sea.
The fishermen 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.
