Thirteen Tamil Nadu fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy when they were allegedly fishing near Neduntheevu in the island nation waters on Thursday.

The fishermen from Rameswaram and Pudukottai district were arrested on charges of poaching fish with banned fishing nets in the exclusive zone of Sri Lanka, Assistant Directors of the Tamil Nadu fisheries department, Manikandan said.

The naval personnel also seized three mechanised boats and took them to Kangesanthurai port there, he said.

Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami had on 27 October urged the Centre to take steps without any delay to secure the release of 54 fishermen and 140 fishing boats from Sri Lanka. (Firstpost)