Personnel of the Sri Lankan Navy allegedly open fired on nine Tamil Nadu fishermen on Wednesday in Kodiyakarai. Two fishermen, who hailed from Nagapattinam and Karaikal were injured, and the boat was damaged.
The two injured fishermen are Dinesh Balamurgan, (21) from Karaikal and Aravindhan, (22) from Nagapattinam. The group had set sail on Sunday.
However, the Centre said that there was no evidence to prove that the Sri Lankan Navy was involved in the firing.
When they were fishing in the wee hours of Wednesday, Sri Lankan navy personnel reportedly warned them to go back. The personnel also told them that they had crossed the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), following which they allegedly opened fire at the fishermen, The New Indian Express reported.
Aravindhan told TNIE that nine of them were peacefully fishing when 20 Sri Lankan navy personnel asked them to stop. He claimed that the fishermen tried to escape by increasing the boat speed to 14 knots but the sea currents were against them.
Moreover, to escape the alleged firing, the fishermen hid in a cabin inside the boat but two men were injured as the windshield of the cabin was damaged. The fishermen escaped and reached the Karaikal fishing harbour around 3 am on Thursday. The two men were taken to the Karaikal government hospital and later shifted to Puducherry government hospital.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said that their mission has made inquiries. There is no evidence to suggest that the Sri Lankan Navy was involved in this firing," The Times of India reported.
Officials from the coast guard and state fisheries department inspected the boat and carried out inquiries on Thursday morning.