Five fishermen, spared the death sentence in Sri Lanka and retuned India.

Emerson, P Augustus, R Wilson, K Prasath and J Langlet, who were released by Sri Lankan authorities yesterday, arrived by an Air India flight at 1.05 am, airport officials said. They are now on their way to their hometown Rameswaram.

But these fishermen took a longer route home than they may have thought. After being released from Colombo, they were first flown to Delhi.

The five – who haven’t seen their families for three years – were brought to the capital for a debriefing by the Intelligence Bureau, say sources. Their families, who had reached Tiruchirapalli to receive the five fishermen, returned home disappointed after learning that they were taken to Delhi.

The delayed reunion of the men with their families drew sharp criticism against the central government.

The five men were sentenced to death last month by a court in Colombo after being held guilty of smuggling drugs into the country. They were arrested in 2011.Their sentence was commuted by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday and they were handed over to Indian officials in Colombo.

The Indian government had challenged the conviction in Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court and over the weekend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken to President Rajapaksa on the phone.Their sentencing triggered large protests in Tamil Nadu, which says its fishermen are unfairly targeted and arrested by the Lankan navy.

Source:ndtv news