Six Indians were allowed to enter Sri Lankan waters "ignoring" immigration procedures to identify the body of an Indian fisherman, a media report has said.
They arrived to attend the identification and post mortem of the Indian fisherman, Xavier Victorz who had gone missing with three others while they were poaching in Sri Lankan waters, Sri Lankan fishermen were quoted as saying by Sunday Times.
Sri Lanka and India have been engrossed in a row over illegal fishing by fishermen of both sides in each other's waters. India accused the Sri Lankan Navy of firing at and killing two Indian fishermen in January.
The row prompted high level contact between the two nations including a visit to Colombo by the Indian foreign secretary, Nirupama Rao.
Sunday Times says Sri Lanka "ignored" immigration procedures with regard to at least six Indians who arrived in Jaffna yesterday.
The issue of alleged harassment of Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy has become a major campaign issue in the hotly contested Tamil Nadu assembly elections the Sunday Times says.