Sri Lankan Navy opens fire at Indian fisherman, two injured

Two Indian fishermen were seriously injured when Sri Lankan naval personnel allegedly opened fire at their fishing boat off Kodiakarai coast, about 80 kms from here today, fisheries department officials said.

The two fishermen from Karaikal district in Puducherry were part of a large group of fishermen that had ventured into the sea in more than 100 boats on Wednesday evening, from here and Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu, Joint Director of Fisheries, Nagapattinam, Amal Xavier told.

When they were fishing about 11 nautical miles off Kodiakarai coast, island nation's authorities opened fire at their boats in which the duo, Balamurugan (21) and Aravind (22) sustained severe injuries, he said.

However, all the fishermen managed to escape and reach Karaikal coast this morning with the injured, who have been admitted to Puducherry government hospital, he added.

The incident comes three days after the Indian Navy opened fire at a fibreglass boat with two armed Sri Lankans, and chased them away when they had allegedly tried to enter our territorial waters.