Nagercoil, October 03:: Thirty-two Tamil Nadu fishermen are lodged in a Qatar prison for the past two months after they were taken into custody by the Qatar coastguard for straying into that country’s waters, official sources here said Monday.
Eighteen fishermen from Kadiyapattinam and 14 from Inayam, Muttom and Periyavillai in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, working in Saudi Arabia, had strayed into Qatar waters and were arrested by that country’s Coastguard on July 10.
On behalf of the South Asian Fishermen Fraternity Forum, a Christian priest, Father Churchill, today handed over a memorandum to District Collector Rajendra Retnoo seeking steps for their release, official sources said.
The memorandum alleged that the owner had not taken any steps for their release and that they were being tortured at the Jeneya-II prison where they had been lodged.
The collector has promised that the Government would take necessary steps, the sources added.
—PTI—