Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu) Dec 24 (Reporter) The Sri Lankan Navy arrested 17 Indian fishermen and seized two mechanized fishing trawlers for allegedly violating the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and poaching in its territorial waters on Tuesday. Tamil Nadu fisheries department officials said here that the fishermen, hailing from Rameswaram were arrested, when they were fishing on high seas north of Mannar. Over 3,000 fishermen had ventured into the sea for routine fishing activities in 383 mechanized fishing trawlers from Rameswaram fishing jetty on Monday morning. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Navy claimed that its North Central Naval Command and Sri Lankan Coast Guard spotted a cluster of Indian fishing boats engaging in illegal fishing in Sri Lankan waters in the wee hours. In response, a special operation was launched that led to the apprehension of 17 Indian fishermen and seizure of two Indian fishing trawlers, who continued to remain in Sri Lankan waters. The seized boats together with Indian fishermen were taken to the Talaimannar Pier and were handed over to the Mannar fisheries officials for onward legal proceedings. With this, the Sri Lankan Navy has apprehended 554 Indian fishermen and seized 72 Indian fishing boats so far this year and handed them over to the fisheries authorities for legal action, it added. The arrest was made a few days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on the contentious matter of Tamil Nadu fishermen issue, during the latter’s visit to New Delhi recently. “We agree that we must proceed with a humanitarian approach to the fishermen issue,” Modi said after the bilateral talks. Mr.Dissanayake said they (Sri Lanka) also want to find a durable and sustainable solution to the fishermen’s issue that has become a plague for both the countries...////...