In a fresh bid, Sri Lanka police have taken 24 Indian fishermen in custody off Tamil Nadu coastal area. According to reports reaching New Delhi, the fishermen were apprehended along with their seven boats and handed over to the Ilawalai police in northern Jaffna peninsular by a group of local fishermen. This happened only a day after arresting 112 of them on Tuesday, triggering protests in Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, India has taken a serious view of the arrest of 112 fishermen by Sri Lanka. The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh yesterday pointed out that Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao had gone to Colombo earlier this month to make a strong demarche to the Sri Lankan government that this sort of behaviour is not acceptable among neighbourly countries. Ministry of External Affairs has said that it is keeping a close tab on the development. All the 112 fishermen were produced before a Point Pedro Magistrate court in Jaffna yesterday and remanded to judicial custody till 28th of this month. Indian Consul-General in Jaffna V. Mahalingam rushed to Point Pedro on Tuesday night and was in close touch with Colombo. The Ministry says the Indian fishermen in 18 boats were surrounded by Sri Lankan fishermen who came in speed boats. India also accused Sri Lanka of killing two fishermen in an earlier incident. The Defence Minister AK Antony has also said that the government is concerned over reports about Sri Lankan Navy firing at Indian fishermen and will do everything possible to protect the interests of its fisher folk. Quoting sources our correspondent reports, the harassment of Indian fishermen near Sri Lanka has unfolded in two phases in the past five or six years. During the war between the Sri Lankan forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Indian fishermen found in certain areas were seen as aiding the militants and harassed by the Sri Lankan Navy. A large number of them were arrested and in some cases, the Sri Lankan Navy even fired at them. During this period, the Sri Lankan Navy dissuaded the fishermen of some critical points such as Jaffna from putting out to the sea, fearing they would bring in supplies for the militants. This, the sources said, was the beginning of the second phase. When the war ended with the defeat of the LTTE, Indian fishermen were accustomed to a free run of the area and encountered no competing claims from Sri Lankan fishermen. However, conflicts flared after the Sri Lankan fishermen starting putting out to the sea. The governments now encourage more meetings between fishermen of both countries and are also planning a meeting of the India-Sri Lanka Joint Working Group on Fishing to work out a permanent solution.