Condemning the mid-sea detention of Fisheries Department officials by a group of Chengalpet fishermen and issuing death threat to them, their counterparts in Thoothukudi struck work for a while and staged a demonstration wearing black badges on Friday.
They said a team of officials ventured into the sea in a boat on September 4 following information that a few fishermen from Panaiyoor Kuppam village were using the banned purse seine nets for catching fish. When the officials did find the fishermen using the banned fishnet, they took photos and videos of the fishermen catching fish with the prohibited purse seine nets.
Agitated over this, the fishermen tied with rope the officials’ boat with their crafts and dragged it deep into the sea where they threatened the officials to delete the photos and the videos of them using the banned fishnets for catching fish. When the officials refused, the fishermen issued death threat to the officials saying that they would be drowned in the sea with the boat to show it as an accident if they refused to delete the photos and the videos. Having left with no choice, the officials obliged in a bid to save their lives.
When the officials, on reaching the shore, filed a complaint with the police accusing the fishermen of preventing them from discharging their duty, detaining them in and issuing death threat to them, no case was registered by the police.
“Only after the intervention of senior officials of Department of Fisheries that the case was registered. However, no one involved in the mid-sea detention was arrested for reasons best known to Tamil Nadu Police. Since there is no safety for us as when we discharge our duty, we struck work for a while as a mark of protest and staged demonstration. If the police still refuse to take action against the erring fishermen who issued death threat to our officials, we’ll start an indefinite strike,” the protestors said.
State general secretary of Tamil Nadu Government Fisheries Department Employees’ Association Maharajan presided over the protest in which office-bearers Sakthi Udaiyar, Venkatesan, Murugan and Peter addressed.
Published - September 13, 2024 06:55 pm IST
