Chief Petty Officer Ratnayake was positioned in the front of the Fast Attack Craft (FAC) that was on hot pursuit after an iron hulled Indian poaching vessel trying to flee Sri Lankan waters defying naval orders to surrender immediately.

The Navy FAC had soon managed to approach the foreign fishing boat from its tail and when the sailor was about to board the latter, the Indian trawler had aggressively maneuvered forcing its heavy iron bar of the trawling crane to crush the victim’s chest, the Navy said.

The pursuing FAC had soon brought the situation under control and taken the intruding vessel into custody along with its crew of 10 South Indian fishermen. The victim sailor who was to be rushed to the hospital had succumbed to his wounds prior to admission.

When contacted, Navy Spokesperson Captain Gayan Wickramasuriya told the Daily Mirror the death of a sailor in action had been reported as the first in the recent history of naval activities countering the Indian poaching issue.

Since January this year the SL Navy had seized 28 Indian trawlers engaged in illegal fish harvesting in Sri Lankan waters and 214 Indian fishermen.

The Naval Spokesman termed the operations of chasing away and tracking down Indian poaching vessels as ‘an act of life and death’ as the latter often resort to ‘aggressive maneuvering’ with the benefit of belief that the SL Navy never used its fire power to surrender civilian boats.

“Addressing the poaching issue is a matter between two countries, thus we have taken measures to inform the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka regarding the incident. The arrested fishermen had been handed over to the Myliddy Fisheries Inspector for further inquiries and necessary legal action.

The remains of the 40-year-old Chief Petty Officer Ratnayake, who was from Ibbagamuwa, Kurunegala will be handed over to the family following the post mortem at Kankesanthurai Hospital,” Captain Wickramasuriya said.

By Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana and Romesh Madusanka – Wanni