Chennai : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapaddi Palaniswami on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to personally intervene and get the Indian Embassy in Iran to work out repatriation of 21 Indian fishermen stranded there.

In a letter to Prime Minister Modi, Palaniswami said employers of 21 Indian fishermen held their passports and hence they were trapped there.

“I request you to direct the Embassy of India in Iran to take all measures to ensure the immediate repatriation of these poor innocent Indian fishermen. Necessary steps may also be taken to ensure that the fishermen receive their just and due wages,” the Chief Minister said.

All the fishermen were from Tamil Nadu and were employed by Mohammed Shallah and his brothers for more than six months. “In the recent past, the Iranian employers did not pay the fishermen their share, as per terms of employment. Hence these fishermen were struggling to make their ends meet as well as unable to send money to their families back home,” he said.

The fishermen’s plea for repatriation home fell on deaf ears, the CM said.

“It is reported that the passports of the fishermen are in the custody of the local employers who are neither allowing them to continue work nor allowing them to return back to India. In addition, the employer chased the fishermen out of their accommodation and abandoned them in the streets without any shelter, food and security,” Palaniswami complained in his letter.