The Sri Lankan Navy arrested 24 Indian fishermen and seized their four boats near Gulf of Mannar on Tuesday.

On the night of 9 October, the Lankan Navy had arrested 19 fishermen hailing from Tamil Nadu on charges of violating the International Maritime Boundary Line. They had also seized their two boats, PTI reported.

They have been remanded in custody till 23 October. They were arrested off the coast of Point Pedro.

Last month, on 22 September, the Navy detained 15 fishermen for fishing in Lankan waters. On the same day they chased away another group of fishermen in another incident and damaged their fishing equipment and boats.

Fishermen from both sides have been violating each other's territorial water boundaries. Last week, the Indian Navy arrested two Lankan fishermen after their boat faced some technical malfunction near Kodiakarai.

This is believed to have disturbed the Indo-Lanka relations. While the issue was raised in the Sri Lankan parliament earlier this month, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa also has been urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up the issue with the neighbouring nation.

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