COLOMBO: A vessel allegedly engaged in arms smuggling for the LTTE was fired upon and sunk by the Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF) on Thursday morning in Maldivian waters, according to the Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry.

In a statement here, the Ministry said that the vessel was initially identified when it fired upon a group of Maldivian fishing vessels around 1 p.m. on Wednesday and it did not adhere to instructions when the MNDF approached the vessel, and subsequently fired upon the MNDF forcing it to return fire.

12 fishermen on board

"The name of the vessel has been identified as Sri Krishna. Investigations are in progress to ascertain whether the vessel is the same one that was reported missing by Indian authorities since March 12, 2007 with 12 Indian fishermen on board. Recently, the Director-General of Police, Tamil Nadu, stated that the 12 Indian fishermen are being held captive by the LTTE," the statement said.

According to the Ministry, the five crew members who had jumped overboard are being interrogated and the Sri Lanka Government is closely liaising with the Maldivian authorities on the subject.

Officially there was no word from the LTTE about the claim.

However, unofficially a Tiger spokesperson maintained that the LTTE did not operate in the Maldivian waters and it had nothing to do with the vessel involved in the incident.

Quoting the Government spokesman of the Maldives, Mohamed Hussein Shareef, the Sri Lanka Defence Ministry said that it was the first crewmember rescued by the coast guards on Wednesday evening that had revealed the LTTE connection to the incident.

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