Colombo (PTI): Twenty-seven Indian fishermen were arrested for allegedly poaching in Sri Lanka's territorial waters, the island nation's Navy said on Sunday.

The fishermen were arrested off the coast of Mannar in the northeast and Delft and Kachchativu islets in the north on Saturday, it said.

The Sri Lankan Navy held two Indian trawlers that continued to remain in island waters off Mannar, with 15 Indian fishermen aboard while three Indian trawlers with 12 fishermen aboard were apprehended near the Delft and Kachchativu Islands, officials said.

The arrested fishermen were handed over to the authorities for further legal action, they said.

In September, 17 Indian fishermen were arrested off the coast of Jaffna's Kakarathivu island.

The fishermen issue is a contentious one in the ties between India and Sri Lanka, with the Lankan Navy personnel even firing at Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait and seizing their boats in several alleged incidents of illegally entering Sri Lankan's territorial waters.

The Palk Strait, which is a narrow strip of water separating Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka, is a rich fishing ground for fishermen from both countries.

There have been periodic instances of Indian fishermen being apprehended by Sri Lankan authorities for allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line and fishing in Sri Lankan waters.

 

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Nagpur, Nov 14: Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Thursday took a personal jibe at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over the latter's recent comment about countering "vote jihad' with "vote dharmyudh".

Is it that common people will fight this "dharmyudh" while children of leaders will study abroad far away from all this, Kumar asked.

"Or will it happen that we will fight to protect 'dharma' while the deputy CM's wife makes Instagram reels," he said addressing a rally for the Congress in Nagpur South West seat.

If "dharma" needs to be protected, then everyone will do it together, Kumar added.

In a rally recently, Fadnavis had said "vote jihad" took place in the Lok Sabha polls and members of a particular community ensured BJP did not get their votes. He claimed the Mahayuti lost the Dhule Lok Sabha seat due to this voting pattern in Malegaon.

Attacking Fadnavis, the former student activist asked why the BJP leader had a problem with sharing the CM's tenure with Uddhav Thackeray when he went on to be CM Eknath Shinde's deputy.

"Why did you split Balasaheb Thackeray's Shiv Sena? If you believed the NCP was corrupt, why did you induct its faction into the Mahayuti? This is because Shinde is not CM but chowkidar of corrupt Gujarati businessman," Kumar said in a swipe at the BJP-led ruling alliance.

In Nagpur South West, Congress' Prafulla Gudhade Patil is pitted against Fadnavis.