Tamil Nadu: Family members of 4 fishermen protest against their arrest in Kuwait last year

Family members of four arrested fishermen staged a protest in Ramanathapuram on Friday demanding their release after they were jailed in Kuwait last year. The family members alleged that they were falsely implicated in a case of drug smuggling that was filed in December 2023.

Four fishermen Sesu and Karthik, fishermen from Tiruppalaikudi, Ramanathapuram district, Santhuru, a fisherman from the Morpannai area, and Vinodkumar, a fisherman from the Pasipattanam area were arrested on December 5, 2023. Ramanathapuram District Maritime Workers' Union held a demonstration in front of the district collector's office to demand their immediate release as prisoners of trial in the Kuwaiti jail.

A person who was smuggling drugs in a boat was caught there. Four fishermen from Tamil Nadu who were not connected to the case have been included in the case of wrongful smuggling of drugs, the union members said. More than 500 people from Tirupalaikudi, Morpannai, and Pasipattinam fishing villages came together with their families and raised slogans to emphasize their demands.