CM Stalin says penalty adds woes to three Tamil Nadu fishers busted in Sri Lanka
New Indian ExpressRAMANATHAPURAM: Three Rameswaram fishermen were sentenced to six months imprisonment and imposed a fine of SLR 50,000 each by a Sri Lankan court on Thursday for allegedly violating the International Maritime Boundary Line for the second time. This comes on the day Chief Minister MK Stalin sent a letter to Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar urging him to ensure the repatriation of four Pudukkottai fishermen, who were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy on Wednesday. Meanwhile, fishermen associations from Ramanathapuram condemned the Sri Lankan government’s action and the imposition of exorbitant fines upon the fishers. Karunamoorthi, a fishermen leader, said the imposition of such a huge sum as a fine upon the fishers would adversely affect their livelihood, and urged the union government to hold talks with the Lankan government to lift such harsh punishments laid on Indian fishers.