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Security tightened along Kerala, Andhra coasts

KOLLAM: Following intelligence reports that there are possibilities of LTTE cadres infiltrating into the country through Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, the Navy, the Coast Guard and the Coastal Police have been put on high alert.

They have further intensified patrolling along the south Kerala and Andhra Pradesh waters for the past couple of days, according to highly placed sources. Earlier, the patrol thrust was mainly on the Tamil Nadu waters.

Highly placed sources in the Coast Guard told The Hindu that a majority of their marine and aircraft fleet, comprising patrol vessels, defence and interceptor boats and helicopters, were in the Kanyakumari waters maintaining special vigil along the south Kerala waters too.

The sources said that all the five districts of the Coast Guard’s Western Region had joined the exercise.

According to sources connected with protecting the Indian waters, while vigil has been intensified along the Kanyakumari waters since the escalation of conflict in Sri Lanka, it has been further intensified over the past few days following receipt of four separate intelligence reports during the past one week that there were chances of escaping LTTE cadres infiltrating into Kerala and Andhra Pradesh too because of the tight vigil along the Tamil Nadu waters.

The sources said the reports also mentioned the methods the LTTE cadres could use to infiltrate into the country. These reports had been passed on to the police departments of the two States too.

Kerala’s lone coastal police station at Neendakara here has also been placed on high alert.

Kollam SP M.R. Ajit Kumar told The Hindu that for the past three days, the bulk of the force attached to the Coastal Police station had been out at sea joining the round-the-clock patrol.

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