Fishermen missing

Rafik Jalaldeen

Sri Lankan and Indian Naval troops engaged in a thorough search and rescue mission to trace the missing fishermen amid prevailing bad weather condition in the sea.

According to the Foreign Ministry a group of fishermen had entered Indian territorial waters for illegal fishing on a vessel (Wind Marine 8) last Wednesday. "A fishing trawler which was engaged in illegal fishing was detected by the Indian Cost Guard (ICG) and they were arrested," sources said.

Navy spokesman Captain Senarath said two Coast Guards who were escorting the fishermen to the Indian shore were taken hostage by the fishermen. "The fishermen overpowered the ICGs. However, after a negotiation two Coast Guards were set free," he added.

The incident had occurred in the general area around 180 nautical miles north of Chennai.

"The fishermen sailing home went missing due to cyclonic type weather developed in the area," he said. No one was traced so far, he added.