Three fishermen from Arcottuthurai coastal village near Vedaranyam in Nagapattinam district were robbed of their belongings by a group of unidentified persons mid-sea while they were fishing a few nautical miles to the east off Kodiyakkarai on Saturday (October 21) night.
Nearly 38 fishermen from Nagapattinam district have reportedly suffered threats, attacks, mid-sea interceptions, and robbery of their belongings by unidentified persons in seven separate instances since August.
According to police sources, V. Ramakrishnan, 56; G. Govindasamy, 60; and M. Mathiyazhagan, 55; all natives of Arcottuthurai coastal village had set sail on board a fibre glass boat to sea for fishing on October 20.
When they were fishing 13 nautical miles to the east off Kodiyakkarai, three unidentified persons who spoke in Tamil came in a fibre glass boat and intercepted the fishing boat. Two of them reportedly boarded the fishermen’s boat and threatened them using sharp weapons.
They took away a GPS device, a mobile phone, a couple of torch lights, and their catch, said police sources, adding none of the fishermen were attacked. They reached the Arcottuthurai coast on Sunday, October 22.