The horrible incident occurred at Neduntheevu, Tamil Nadu in the night of January 18 when Sri Lankan naval ship allegedly collided with a TN Fishermen boat, which bore registration numbers-‘646’,carrying four ill-fated fishermen Nagaraj of Tathanenthal, Messiah of Thangachimadam, Samson of Mandapam Refugee Camp and and Senthil Kumar of Uchipuli, who ventured into sea off Kottaipattinam of Pudukottai district in the morning of January 18, Fishermen sources said.
The 4 bodies were brought back to Thangachimadam and Ramanathapuram taluk by the Indian Coast Guard personnel and with duly protection handed over to the State Fisheries Department on Saturday evening whereas the post mortem examinations were conducted in a hospital at Jaffna. When the Sri Lankan Navy allegedly collided with the boat, Messiah, one of the deceased and sailor in '646' registered boat, alerted the fellow fishers, who were engaged in fishing by other boats, by VHF communication system and screamed for help after he felt his boat was on the brink of collapse.
But to the sad part, the boat capsized and those four fishermen aboard disappeared much to the shock of fellow fishers, who went in search of them. In a while, Sri Lankan Navy informed the fellow fishers that those four missing were detained and would be released after completing all formalities. But later the death news was conveyed to the fellow fishers and relatives. It was alleged that Sri Lankan Coastal Guards fearing legal action following the collision, the personnel killed the fishermen deliberately. Thousands of fishers including the Health Minister Dr Vijayabhaskar paid tribute to the bodies and they were taken back to their respective villages in separate ambulances. Fishermen community demands re post-Mortem for the deceased bodies. And demands punishment to the guilty. They also wants centre to ensure safety from such attacks in future.
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