No more Indian fishermen in Lankan jails

Lanka has released 225 Indian fishermen since the Modi government took over.

2 min readNew DelhiAug 18, 2014 01:48 AM IST First published on: Aug 18, 2014 at 01:48 AM IST

For the first time in this year no Indian fisherman is in Sri Lankan jail, following the release of 94 of them on Saturday by the island nation.

Officials said hundreds of Indian fishermen had been apprehended by the Lankan Navy while fishing in their waters and with the release of the latest batch, none is left in the Lankan custody.

The fishermen issue is a very emotive one for both the countries. While Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has been repeatedly pressing the Centre to take it up with the Lankan leadership, there was tremendous pressure on the Sri Lankan government to initiate judicial process against the apprehended Indian fishermen, resulting in their prolonged detention.