Images tell the truth

Image from Deccanchronical

S. VIJAY KUMAR - From The Hindu

Lankan Navy's surveillance radars along Palk Bay have captured images of TN fishermen venturing into their territory.

The surveillance radars installed by the Sri Lankan Navy on a few islands along the Palk Bay have captured images of Tamil Nadu fishermen venturing into their territory. The images were handed over to the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka and subsequently forwarded to the Ministry of Defence for appropriate action, defence sources said on Wednesday.

The Coast Guard on Monday filed an affidavit in the Madras High Court Bench in Madurai that 36,865 Indian fishing boats reportedly crossed the IMBL in the Palk Bay region and indulged in poaching as well as smuggling in the Sri Lankan waters between January 2014 and February this year.

Explaining the basis of this “fact”, a senior official in the Coast Guard said the Sri Lankan Navy had evidence to prove that the fishing boats from Tamil Nadu regularly crossed IMBL and indulged in fishing in their waters.

“Even we are aware that a majority of the fishermen cross the boundary. On many occasions, we have warned them that the Indian Navy or Coast Guard can protect them only in Indian waters. There is no possibility of Sri Lankan naval forces entering Indian waters to attack or apprehend Tamil Nadu fishermen,” he said.