The Sri Lankan navy arrested 53 fishermen off the coast of Talaimannar and Jaffna on Thursday morning, reports PTI.
According to the Fisheries Association, 30 of those arrested were from Rameswaran in Tamil Nadu, whilst the remainder were from Poompuhara. Six boats and a fishing trawler have also been seized.
The arrest comes after five Indian fishermen and one child, were arrested Tuesday by Sri Lankan navy personnel.
Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa urged the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take action against the Sri Lankan navy's ongoing and repeated arrests of Indian fishermen, describing it as "totally inhumane".
President Mahinda Rajapaksa meanwhile accused Indian trawlers of destroying the environment in the waters around the island, through the use of bottom trawling.
In an interview to The Hindu, Rajapaksa stressed that Sri Lanka will not tolerate the use of massive bottom trawlers and rejected the calls to free their boats.
“If I allow the boats to return, again they will return and do the same thing,” he said.
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