The 21 Indian fishermen whose release was secured by the Indian High Commission in Colombo arrived at the Chennai airport on Saturday morning.
“Returning home! 21 Indian fishermen have been successfully repatriated and are on their way to Chennai from Colombo,” the official handle of the High Commission of India in Colombo, earlier posted on X.
On Thursday, the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka and the Consulate General in Jaffna secured the release of 20 fishermen from Sri Lanka.
“High Commission @IndiainSL and @CGJaffna in cooperation with GoSL authorities secured the release of 20 Indian fishermen.
DHC @Dr Satyanjal and other officials met the fishermen today, ascertained their well-being and assured their repatriation within a day,” the Indian High Commission said in a post.
The officials of the Indian Consulate General in Jaffna visited the Kayts police station and met two fishermen who were among the four, whose boat capsized upon collision with a Sri Lankan Navy boat.
The Sri Lankan Navy personnel handed over the two fishermen (Muthu Muniandi and Mookiah) and also the mortal remains of the fisherman Malaisami to the Indian Navy near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) at the wee hours of Saturday, August 3. The authorities brought the two fishermen and the mortal remains to Rameswaram by ‘INS Bitra’, the Indian Navy ship.
At around 3 a.m., Navy officials from the detachment here, accompanied by the Marine Police and officials of the Fisheries Department, received the mortal remains and brought back the two fishermen to the shore.
