3 fishermen in Tamil Nadu injured in attack by Sri Lankan Navy

In continuing attacks allegedly by Sri Lankan Navy, three fishermen were injured when fishing boats from here were attacked in mid-sea early today, officials said.The Lankan navalmen, who had come in speed boats armed with weapons, chased the fishermen by hurling stones and cutting off their fishing nets and damaging their boats.The fishermen alleged they were attacked even as they were preparing to leave heeding their orders.About 2,500 fishermen were fishing when they were allegedly attacked. Three were injured while the others managed to escape, fisheries department officials said.The attack, fifth in the last one month, came a day after Chief Minister Jayalalithaa asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to exert pressure on Colombo to rein in the "rogue elements" in the island navy.In her fifth letter on the issue to Singh in recent months, Jayalalithaa had said the attacks on the state fishermen had caused "great unrest" among the people and they should be construed as attacks on India and treated as a national issue.In three separate incidents over the past 11 days, 15 fishermen have been injured and 26 boats damaged in attacks allegedly by Lankan Navy.