TN fishermen say SLN tortured their colleagues to death..!!!

Local fishermen say SLN tortured their colleagues to death


April 17, 2011, 10:09 pm


MADURAI (Times of India-Apr 17): A two-week search for a fisherman, who went missing along with three others on April 2, ended on Saturday after his body was washed ashore near Nagapattinam in central Tamil Nadu. The bodies of the three other fishermen were found near Neduntivu and Thondi along the Sri Lankan coast. Local fishermen had been alleging that their four colleagues had been tortured to death by the Sri Lankan naval personnel and the bodies dumped into the sea.


Meanwhile, leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj reportedly called up external affairs minister S M Krishna to discuss the matter. The BJP leader has been raising the issue of repeated attacks by the Lankan navy on Tamil Nadu fishermen both inside and outside parliament. She said she had taken up the issue with Krishna, who is now in Bangalore, after receiving information that all the four Indian fishermen were dead. "He (Krishna) has promised to ascertain facts and revert at the earliest," she tweeted. Swaraj said she had also spoken to BJP organisation secretary of Tamil Nadu Mohan Rajlu and asked him to visit Rameswaram.


On April 2, 634 mechanised boats were put out to sea from Rameswaram and while 633 returned the next day, one boat belonging to Antony of Thangatchimadam was reported missing. There were three others aboard the missing boat -- Victus, John Paul and Marimuthu. Fishermen alleged that these men may have been taken prisoners or killed by the Sri Lankan navy.


The body of Victus was washed ashore at Neduntivu in Sri Lanka and his relatives who rushed to the place identified the body and conducted the last rites there. The bodies of Antony and John Paul were later found near Thondi on April 12 and 14.


With the body of Marimuthu being washed ashore near Pudukudi in Nagapattinam, the search has come to an end. His family members identified the body.


Chief minister M Karunanidhi has announced a solatium of Rs five lakh each for the families of the fishermen. MDMK general secretary Vaiko has announced Rs 25,000 each. Indian officials have visited Colombo and registered their complaint with the Sri Lankan government.


SLN denies charge, reminds ‘Sri Krishna’ episode


Navy headquarters says there is absolutely no truth in these allegations. A senior spokesman told The Island that this was part of an organized campaign to discredit Sri Lanka in spite of the SLN regularly assisting Indian fishing trawlers in difficulty. The official said that the SLN remained committed to assist the Indian fishing community, though a section of the fishing community engaged in anti-Sri Lanka propaganda. Responding to a query, the official said that the Sri Krishna episode in early 2007 revealed the LTTE using a section of the Tamil Nadu fishing community to support its clandestine operations.


The Maldivian Coast Guard sunk Indian trawler Sri Krishna as it was transferring ammunition from an LTTE ship in international waters to a transit point in Indo-Lanka waters.



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