India today urged Sri Lanka to immediately release on humanitarian grounds 23 Tamil Nadu fishermen, arrested on charges of entering the island nation's waters.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna urged the Sri Lankan government to release the fishermen, who were also accused of ramming into Lankan naval ships, on humanitarian basis immediately, official sources said.
Fisheries department officials in Rameswaram had said in Tamil Nadu last week that Sri Lankan Naval personnel allegedly attacked some fishing boats and arrested 23 Tamil Nadu fishermen when they were fishing near Katchatheevu in the Palk Straits.
Rameswaram Fishermen's Association President Emirett had said that the Lankan navalmen attacked 20 other fishing boats and seized the fishing nets.
In Sri Lanka, Naval spokesman Kosala Warnakulasuriya had said that the fishermen were arrested off the coast of Talaimannar for poaching and causing damages to the fishing gear of the Sri Lankan counterparts.
Katchatheevu, an islet, was ceded to Sri Lanka by India in 1974.
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