AFTER CAPTURING TWO LTTE BOATS LADEN WITH CLAYMORE BOMB COMPONENTS TAMIL NADU POLICE PROBING INTO ORIGINS OF SUPPLIES TO THE INSURGENTS

By Walter Jayawardhana

After the seizure of two Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) boats carrying improvised explosive devices components by the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy last Monday and Wednesday the Tamil Nadu Police is probing into the exact origin of the cargoes , Tamil Nadu Police said.

Although the details pertaining to where the contraband was loaded to the boat seized by the Indian Coast Guard is not yet known, the Police said they exactly know more details about the second LTTE boat seized by the Indian navy.

Statements made by those who were arrested in connection with the seizure of the second boat by the Indian Navy revealed a LTTE kingpin named Kannan supervised the loading of the components necessary to assemble Claymore Bombs or Improvised Explosive Devices.

The Police told newspapers that they were seeking the help of the Indian Coast Guards to study the sea routes taken by the LTTE smugglers to take the illegal shipments to Sri Lanka.Police assumed that the loading of the Monday boat would have been done at a hamlet close to Tuticorin in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

People arrested in connection with the Wednesday LTTE boat said Kannan, who has also operated under many other aliases in the past, has supervised 15 people in loading the boat. Those who arrested said he distributed money among them . It was also revealed in the Police investigations that he operated an arms procurement network in the Tamil Nadu state for the LTTE.

Five people who are in police custody are expected to be taken out by the police to places where the loading exactly took place .

Their statements also would help the police to understand the smuggling centers between Ramanathapuram and Tuticorin and the link roads leading to those loading centers.

Immediately after the seizure of the second boat laden with explosives the Indian Coast Guard announced that they would add two more patrolling ships along what they called sensitive stretches along Tamil Nadu coast. They said they would be doubling or tripling the patrolling in those areas and also employing surveillance aircraft over the area.

The Indian Coast Guard said the coconuts and rice bags found on the boat have been used as a decoy to conceal arms ammunition and suicide belt loaded in the boat.

Samples of the illegal material found on the boat have been sent for analysis to Indian navy’s metallurgical research laboratory at Visakapatnam in Andrapredesh.