27 fishermen travel through sea to reach hometowns, caught and sent to quarantine facility in Andhra

As many as 27 fishermen, who travelled through the sea from Chennai to reach their hometowns in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha amid the ongoing coronavirus lockdown, were caught and sent to a quarantine centre in Andhra's Srikakulam district on Monday.

According to the police, they had been guarding the coast for two days after they received information about the fishermen travelling through the sea.

The 27 fishermen travelled for five days from Chennai coast in Tamil Nadu to Donkuru village in Ichchapuram Mandal of Andhra Pradesh's Srikakulam district through the sea to avoid lockdown restrictions.

Out of the 27 fishermen, 16 belong to Donkuru village, one to Jagativpeta in Srikakulam district while 10 are from Sunnapuram area in Odisha.

"They had bought a new boat for Rs 1.70 lakh to travel from Tamil Nadu to Andhra Pradesh. They reached the coast near Donkuru village late last night and came to the shore this morning," police said.

Police, along with revenue officials, have shifted these 27 persons to a quarantine centre set up at Andhra Pradesh Model School in Purushottam Puram of Ichchapuram town here.

( With inputs from ANI )