Tamil Nadu - Ramanathapuram   

4 Sri Lankans arrested, 10 GPS equipment seized

RAMANATHAPURAM: A day after the seizure of satellite phones and other materials at Chinna Erwadi, the police on Tuesday arrested four Sri Lankans, including a hardcore Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militant, and seized 10 Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment and a consignment of other items.

The consignment included 3,360 batteries, a set top box, 11 life jackets, sample pieces of uniform cloth, 10 multi-tester meters, a generator and pistol cover, the police said.

There was also a compact disc, which contained a speech delivered by Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko at a conference held in Oslo, Norway. The consignment was meant to be delivered at Mullaitheevu.

Based on a tip-off, a Special Branch police party led by Sub-Inspector G. Manivannan intercepted a van coming from Tiruchi at Uppur, a seaside hamlet near Thondi.

Those arrested were identified as Vijayaneethan alias Naveen (26), son of Sivasekaran of Trincomalee; Rakshanandan (21), son of Sivakumar of Wanni; Ramanan (31), son of Gunaseelan of Valvettithurai; and Sivaraman (23), van driver-cum-owner. Except Naveen, the others were living in a refugee camp in Tiruchi.

A police officer told The Hindu that Naveen was a hardcore LTTE militant and close relative of an important leader of the organisation in Mannar district. He is wanted by the Sri Lankan government and had left the island nation in 2006. He was living in a refugee camp at Tiruvadavur in Madurai district along with his family and was a leading procurement person for the LTTE. He had established contacts with refugees, who were sympathisers of the LTTE, and utilised their services for procuring and smuggling goods, the police officer said.

Naveen had recently sent a few consignments, mostly electrical and electronic goods, to Sri Lanka through the Rameswaram coast.

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