Berhampur: Altogether 24 fishermen were arrested by wildlife officials on Friday for illegally fishing inside Nalabana wildlife sanctuary. While 13 of them are from Balipatapur village, 11 belong to Chandrapur. Three mechanised boats, their engines, bamboo oars, around 23kg of fish, fishing nets,and thermocol boxes were seized from them, said Amlan Nayak, divisional forest officer (DFO), Chilika wildlife division.During patrolling inside Nalabana sanctuary on Thursday, a team of wildlife officers detected three mechanised boats inside the prohibited sanctuary area and seized them. The fishermen could not produce any authorisation or document to enter the sanctuary areas, said Rasmita Jena, range officer, Balugaon wildlife range. Investigation has revealed the accused trespassed into the sanctuary area for fishing knowing well that it is prohibited, she said.On May 25, wildlife officers arrested 11 fishermen for allegedly fishing in the prohibited area and seized the 2 mechanised boats, 2 engines, 13 fishing nets and other materials from them.
