3 fishermen arrested by Sri Lanka, Stalin tells Centre; seeks action

Chennai, Dec 28 (PTI) Sri Lankan Navy has arrested 3 Tamil Nadu fishermen and seized their fishing boat, Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday apprised External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and urged the Centre to get the fishermen and their boat released at the earliest.

The fishermen had ventured for fishing from Mandapam fishing jetty of Ramanathapuram District on December 27, 2025 and they were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on the following day (Sunday, Dec 28), Stalin said writing to Jaishankar.

Underlining the latest incident of apprehension of 3 more fishermen, he said, as of now, a total of 248 fishing boats and 61 fishermen from Tamil Nadu are under Sri Lankan custody.

"In view of the above, I request you to take this matter up urgently through appropriate diplomatic channels to prevent such incidents in the future and to secure the early release of our fishermen and their boats," the chief minister said.

Further, the CM said: "The apprehension of Tamil Nadu fishermen and their fishing vessels by the Sri Lankan authorities continue unabated with alarming frequency. This has led to severe disruption of our fishermen’s livelihood." PTI VGN VGN ROH