Nagapattinam fishermen allegedly robbed of their fishing nets

Fishing nets cast by two groups of fishermen of Vellapallam village in Nagapattinam district in the mid-sea were allegedly robbed by suspects from Sri Lanka on Wednesday night.  However, the fishermen in both cases did not lodge any complaint regarding the crime, said Coastal Security Group sources.

The sources said three fishermen — N. Kaliappan, 48, U. Selvam, 45, and N. Natarajan, 40, ventured into the sea in a fibre boat from Vellapallam on Wednesday afternoon.  They had cast the net in the sea five nautical miles east of Kodiyakarai when some persons suspected to be from Sri Lanka came in a boat and allegedly took away their net. The fishermen returned to the shore on Thursday morning. 

In another case, a group of four fishermen — S. Arasappan, 45, S. Anandavel, 22, G. Mahalingam, 40, and K. Raja, 45, — ventured into the sea from Vellapallam in an unregistered boat belonging to Arasappan on Wednesday afternoon. The fishermen had cast the net in the sea five nautical miles east of Kodiyakarai when some persons suspected to be from Sri Lanka, who came in a boat, allegedly took away the net. The fishermen returned to the shore on Thursday morning.