Stalin writes to Rajnath Singh, asks him to intervene to locate 16 missing fishermen

The mechanised fishing boat named Ajmeer Sha bears a Kerala registration number and ventured out into the sea from Beypore fishing harbour in Kerala on May 5.

Published on: May 23, 2021, 23:23:04 IST

By HT Correspondent

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Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Sunday wrote to Union defence minister Rajnath Singh seeking his intervention to locate 16 missing fishermen. Twelve of these fishermen belong to Tamil Nadu and the remaining four are from West Bengal. They went missing while fishing in the Arabian Sea near the Mangalore coast during Cyclone Tauktae, which was classified as an extremely severe cyclonic storm and made landfall in Gujarat on May 17.

Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin has written to Union defence minister Rajnath Singh seeking his intervention to locate 16 missing fishermen. (PTI PHOTO.)

The mechanised fishing boat named Ajmeer Sha bears a Kerala registration number and ventured out into the sea from Beypore fishing harbour in Kerala on May 5. “It has been informed that after Cyclone Tauktae there has been no contact with the crew of this boat,” Stalin said in his letter.

Tamil Nadu had earlier requested the Marine Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), east, west and the Indian Coast Guard station in Cochin to search for and rescue the fishermen but there has been no news on them so far. “This has caused anxiety and distress among the families and the fishermen community in the state,” Stalin said requesting the defence minister’s ‘immediate intervention’ and ‘urgent action’ to rescue the missing fishermen.

This comes a day after the families of the missing fishermen in Tamil Nadu wrote to the chief ministers of the state, Kerala and West Bengal.

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