Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has expressed shock over the arrest of 41 Indian fishermen by the Lankan navy and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to register strongest disapproval of the `misadventure’ of the island nation’s authorities in the mid-seas.

“The attack and apprehension of our fishermen en masse has come as rude shock at a time when the process of conversion of trawling boats to long-liners was kick-started in your presence at Rameswaram recently,” Palaniswami said in his a letter to Modi.

“It is a sharp escalation and a needless provocation,” he added. The attack and apprehensions clearly point to the scant regard on the Sri Lankan side for the efforts of the Indian and Tamil Nadu government to resolve the fishing issues peacefully.

He urged Modi to take up the matter personally with the highest authorities in Sri Lanka and register strongest disapproval of the misadventure of the Lankan Navy in the mid-seas gravely endangering the lives of our fishermen. He also wanted the Prime Minister to direct the Ministry of External Affairs to secure the immediate release of fishermen and their boats.