Nagapattinam:
Seven fishermen from the Nagapattinam district were injured in an alleged attack by their Sri Lankan counterparts in Indian waters off Kodiakarai coast, officials said today.
Five of the seven fishermen, who returned to the shores last night, have been admitted to the Government Hospital in the district while two others have been treated as outpatients, they said.
The mid-sea attack occurred hours after four fishermen from Vellapallam were injured in a similar incident yesterday morning with one of them being hospitalised.
In the second incident, Kannaiyan and six others, who had ventured into the sea on Friday from Arucottuthurai, were fishing in Indian waters off Kodiakarai when Sri Lankan fishermen arrived in four boats and surrounded them.
They jumped onto the boats of the seven fishermen and attacked them with sickles and stones and took away their fish and GPS equipment before fleeing from there, the fishermen said in a complaint to officials.
Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister KA Jayapal, District Collector T Munusamy, Assistant Director of Fisheries Subburaj and other officials visited the hospital and enquired about the health of the injured fishermen.