Tamil Nadu - Others   

Sri Lankans nabbed from sea under suspicious circumstances

Tamil Nadu Bureau

They were detained along with six Indian fishermen by Coast Guard

PROBING LINKS: Coast Guard and police personnel inspecting the abandoned trawler at the Tuticorin port on Thursday. — Photo: N. Rajesh

TUTICORIN/CHENNAI : Indian intelligence and security agencies are investigating the implications of the arrest of 12 persons -- six Indians and six Sri Lankan Tamils -- from the sea off Kanyakumari.

They were detained by the Coast Guard in suspicious circumstances in Indian waters on Wednesday and handed over to the police at Tuticorin on Thursday.

Said a security official: "There are many questions that crop up. One, why was the Sri Lankan trawler in Indian waters given the fact that the catch is not good here? Two, assuming the trawler began taking water, how did the Indian fishermen come to know of it? Three, though there was no communication equipment on board the trawler, how did they contact the Indians?"

The Sri Lankan Navy believes this is a clear indication that fishermen from both countries are in touch. They hope interrogation of the arrested fishermen will throw some light on how the trawler had bullet marks and what it was doing in Indian waters.

The trawler's name -- Maria -- led Indian intelligence and security agencies to believe this was one of the two boats that fired on Indian fishermen a couple of weeks ago, killing five of them. But fishermen injured in the incident, who were shown the trawler, reportedly told Tamil Nadu police that it was not the same vessel.

A Coast Guard ship spotted the group, travelling in two country boats, 26.5 nautical miles southeast of the Kanyakumari coast.

S M Singh, Commanding Officer, CGS Naiki Devi, a patrol vessel, said the abandoned 20-foot trawler came to their notice during patrolling. It was the name Maria that raised suspicion. On seeing the Coast Guard ship, the country boats tried to move away, refusing to heed instructions to stop.

This is one of the major successes of `Operation Varchasav,' launched on April 9 by the Coast Guard on the eastern seaboard. A fleet of nine Coast Guard ships and three Dornier aircraft are out at sea, identifying each vessel in Indian waters. The Coast Guard inspected 400 fishing and other vessels from Monday to Thursday. The operation concluded on Thursday.

The Sri Lankan nationals - Arul Njanadasan (21), C Robin (23), S Selvakumar (19), M Panibose (28), D Arul (19) and M Ravikumar (24), and the Indians caught along with them, S Sahaya Vince (26), M Antony (38), Subin Sudhakar (18), L Muthappan (36), T Nelson (34) and A Charlin (25), were later questioned by the police, Intelligence Bureau and `Q' Branch.

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