Chennai, Jul 12 (IANS): Six fishermen from Tamil Nadu have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy near Karainagar on charges of poaching in the waters of that nation.

All the six are from Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu and had set sail from the Jagadapattinam harbour on Monday.

The fishermen, according to information available, ventured into the sea onboard a mechanized vessel on Monday and were arrested late at night.

Those arrested are K. Karthik (24) who is the owner of the vessel and lives in Jagadapattinam, P. Devaraj (35), M. Suresh (43), I. Velmurugan (27), I.Sundaram (47) and K. Thirumeni (31).

Sources in the Tamil Nadu Coastal Police told IANS that according to information available, they were taken to Mayilatti harbour for further questioning.

Many fishermen from Tamil Nadu have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy and their mechanized boats impounded. The Sri Lankan Navy had even advertised the sale of the confiscated boats in the local newspapers.

In Ramanathapuram, Dhanushkodi, and other coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, fishermen had taken to the streets and blocked the highways earlier against the arrests of Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu by the Sri Lankan Navy.