In a letter to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on October 15, CM Vijay asked the Centre to take up the detention of 25 Thoothukudi fishermen by the Maldivian Coast Guard through diplomatic channels and secure their early release and safe return with their boats.
In a letter to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on October 15, CM Vijay asked the Centre to take up the detention of 25 Thoothukudi fishermen by the Maldivian Coast Guard through diplomatic channels and secure their early release and safe return with their boats.
Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay wrote to Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday, October 15, 2026, seeking urgent intervention for the release of 25 fishermen from Thoothukudi district who were detained by the Maldivian Coast Guard along with their boats.
The fishermen were on three mechanised fishing boats when the Maldives Coast Guard detained them in the early hours of Tuesday, October 13. The exact location has not been officially stated.
The Chief Minister wrote that the Union government’s intervention would bring “great reassurance and comfort to the families” of the fishermen and to the fishing community.
Thoothukudi’s deep-sea fishermen often travel far into the Indian Ocean. When they are detained abroad, their families lose their only income and the boats — worth lakhs of rupees — face confiscation. Early diplomatic action is the fastest way to bring them home.
CM Vijay Fishermen Thoothukudi Maldives S. Jaishankar Day 159