Sri Lankan Navy denies attacking Indian fishermen

The Sri Lankan navy on Sunday rejected claims they had attacked a group of Indian fishermen last week. The Indian media reported that the fishermen were attacked on two separate occasions last week, injuring at least three of them. However, Sri Lankan Navy spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya said both incidents had occurred inside Indian territorial waters and the Sri Lankan navy was not involved. "We strongly deny these claims. It has now become a trend for the Sri Lankan navy to be blamed for attacks on Indian fishermen. We were not involved in any of the incidents," the Navy spokesman told Xinhua. The Indian media on Sunday said that three fishermen from the southern Tamil Nadu state had lodged a complaint with the authorities saying the Sri Lankan Navy had attacked them on Thursday night. The fishermen claimed that Navy personnel had allegedly threatened them at knife point and later seized their fish. At least three fishermen were also allegedly attacked during the incident and are receiving treatment at a hospital in Tamil Nadu. In a separate incident, the Indian media said that the Sri Lankan Navy had snatched their mobile phones while they were fishing last week. India and Sri Lanka are divided by a small stretch of sea and fishermen from both countries often stray into each other's territorial waters. Both countries have already established joint committees to deal with the issues faced by the fishermen when they either confront each other or when they are confronted by the Navy.