Eight fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy in the early hours of Tuesday on charges of trespassing into the territorial waters of the island nation.
The fishermen had set sail on board a mechanised vessel from the Jegadapattinam fishing harbour in the district on Monday morning.
Coastal Security Group sources said the fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy at around 2 a.m. on Tuesday while they were fishing near Neduntheevu.
They were taken along with their vessel to the Kankesanthurai naval base in the island nation. Those arrested were vessel owner P. Tamilselvan (37), C. Viji (28), A. Dinesh (26), G. Ranjith (27), S. Pakkirisamy (45), S. Kamal (25), S. Punudhu (41) and M. Karthik (27), the sources added.
