Colombo:Â Sri Lanka released five Indian fishermen after President Mahinda Rajapaksa commuted their death penalty on Wednesday. Â They were sentenced to death on charges of drug trafficking.
Prison officials said the five have been handed over to the immigration authorities for further action.
Emerson, P Augustus, R Wilson, K Prasath and J Langlet, all hailing from Tamil Nadu, were apprehended in 2011 and were sentenced to death by the Colombo High Court on October 30 for alleged drug trafficking.
The court ruling had triggered fiery protests in parts of Tamil Nadu and sporadic violence broke out in and around Rameswaram as a large number of people staged protests.
On November 11, India had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka against a verdict of the high court awarding death sentence to them.
The appeal filed against the Colombo High Court judgment was dismissed by a two-judge Appellate Court Bench comprising of Justices Vijith K. Malalgoda and AHMD. Nawaz, after the counsel appearing for the five fishermen said they have decided to withdraw it.
Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation last week on the issue.
The issue of fishermen is a very emotive matter for both Sri Lanka and India, where Tamil Nadu-based parties including AIADMK and DMK have been regularly pressing the government to take up the matter with the Lankan authorities seriously and have often resented high-profile visits from the island nation.