RAMANATHAPURAM: The police have `detained' at least five persons, suspected to be sympathisers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealem, who recently tried to sneak into Tamil Nadu through Rameswaram.

Their attempts have raised questions about the effectiveness of patrolling along the coast of Ramanathapuram, Pudukottai, Tuticorin and Nagapattinam districts.

Mandatory orders

Highly placed sources told The Hindu that they were either sympathisers or dropouts of the banned LTTE. They entered Tamil Nadu under the guise of refugees in the last few weeks. However, the police secured all of them and sent them to a special camp at Chengalpattu in Kancheepuram district after obtaining mandatory orders from the Government.

Sourcing money

Sources said their main aim was not to create trouble but to visit other countries from India illegally or using forged immigration documents.

After reaching the foreign countries, they planned to earn money and send a portion of it to the banned organisation.

Security was tightened along the coast. The police were asked to verify the antecedents of the refugees.

There are fifteen landing centres along the Ramanathapuram coast, including Olaikuda, Othaikal, Kothamdaramar Koil, Devil Point, Kundhukal and Arichalmunai.

All of them have been brought under the control of security agencies.

The recent pattern in the arrival of refugees shows that the patrolling vessels of the Navy or Coast Guard never encountered the `refugees' boats.

The refugees themselves reported at police stations. Similarly, it has also come to notice that though the Sri Lankan illegal boats landed on the Indian soil more than 30 times during the past three months, they returned safely without any enquiry by the Indian authorities.

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