Chennai, Aug 9 (IANS): Three Sri Lankan fishermen were arrested on Wednesday by Tamil Nadu Coastal police from Vedarnyam coast in Nagapattinam district.
The three fishermen, who were stranded in mid-sea due to an engine failure, were first rescued by the Tamil Nadu Coastal police and later arrested.
The arrested, identified as Ronald Reagan (40), Sivakumar (25) and Srikanthan (37), are natives of Jaffna in Sri Lanka.
The trio had ventured into the sea for fishing in an unregistered mechanised boat on August 6 and were stranded in mid sea due to an engine failure.
The Coastal Security Group sources told IANS that during a routine patrol in the sea, they came across the stranded boatmen at 3 nautical miles from Maniyantheevu and rescued them.
The unregistered mechanised boat and the fishing equipment with them were confiscated by the Coastal Police.