Lankan court orders seized Indian fishing boats to be destroyed: Officials

A court in Sri Lanka has permitted officials to destroy several Indian mechanised fishing boats seized in the last 3-4 years for allegedly crossing into the island nation territory, officials here said on Sunday. The court in Jaffna gave the orders for destroying 27 out of the 94 boats of fishermen from this region in Lankan custody, they said, quoting information received by them.

The development triggered tension in this island town and fishermen association leader P Sesuraja appealed against destruction of the seized boats and said steps should be taken to return to their owners. Sri Lankan Navy had seized several boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen for allegedly fishing in their territorial waters in recent years. Some of the seized boats had been released in batches in the past and brought back by the fishermen.