Tamil and Muslim fishermen protested in Mullaitivu on 07 August against the police over a case of illegal inland fishing by Sinhala fishermen.
They charged that nine of the 38 poachers captured by them were allowed to escape and 17 Tamils and Muslims who handed them over were taken into custody by Oddusudan police.
During an agitation in front of the district secretariat, protestors demanded that their fishing rights at Thannimurippu tank be not forfeited.
They handed over a petition to DS Uma Maheswaran.
A district development committee has decided that fishing at the tank is exclusively for Tamil and Muslim people of three villages only.
A court has remanded the 29 Sinhala fishermen and the 17 Tamil and Muslim fishermen.
