Family of fishermen in Sri Lanka prisons seek help of Union government

Families of arrested Pamban fishermen urged the District Collector Simranjeet Singh Kahlon to bring back the fishermen from the Sri Lanka prisons.

G. Saranya, one of the petitioners, said, the 10 fishermen who were arrested last month by Sri Lanka Navy for allegedly crossing International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).

As they were lodged in prison, a Sri Lanka court pronounced them guilty and sentenced them to 18 months of prison or imposed fine of five crores (Sri Lankan value) each, she added .

“We are into fishing business to just feed our stomachs. In this situation, how can we pay crores of rupees to escape prison,” she noted.

The Union government should intervene immediately to get back our husbands from the prisons, the petitioners said.