COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan navy arrested four Indian fishermen and seized 165kg of ganja from them in the wee hours of Tuesday.
The incident happened a week after four Rameswaram fishermen had been apprehended by the Sri Lankan navy on charges of smuggling ganja.
According to Sri Lankan navy’s website, four Indian fishermen were arrested by a naval craft of the North Central Naval Command during a routine patrolling in the seas north-west of Talaimannar and seized 165kg of ganja.
A dhow and fishing gears were also taken into naval custody. The arrested fishermen along the contraband were to be handed over to customs for further action, the website said.
Meanwhile, it is feared that the arrested fishermen might be hailing from Rameswaram area of Tamil Nadu and the dhow mentioned by the Sri Lankan side could be a country boat fitted with sails.
“We learnt that the arrested fishermen are being taken to Colombo for further inquiry. The identities of the fishermen are yet to be known, and we are trying to gather information,” stated U Arulanandam of the Alliance for Release of Innocent Fishermen.
