NAVY DISCOVERS ONE CRAFT SUNK OFF KALPITIYA WAS FIXED WITH ANTI-AIRCRFT GUN WHEN FROGMEN SALVAGE BOTH BOATS

By Walter Jayawardhana

One of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) boats that was destroyed by Sri Lanka Navy fire power was fixed with an anti aircraft gun, Navy Spokesman Commodore D.K.P. Dassanayaka said.

The Navy spokesman said when Navy frogmen salvaged one of the LTTE crafts that was destroyed in the shallow waters off Kalpitiya by the Navy it was found the craft was fixed with 14.5 anti air craft gun. In addition it was also fixed with a powerful machine gun.

The frogmen who were engaged in the salvaging of the two sea crafts had definitely identified them as LTTE Sea Tiger craft ,Commander D.K.P. Dassanayaka said.

He said at the time of the sinking there were 9 Sea Tigers on both crafts. There were six on one craft and there were three on the other craft. Commander Dassanayaka said they could find out only two bodies since even the crafts have been taken away by the strong currents of the rough seas from the places they sank after the confrontation.

The two bodies found were stuck inside one of the crafts, he said. Otherwise even those bodies would have been taken away by the strong currents and lost.

Dassanayaka said the two bodies were clearly identified as bodies of Sea Tigers due to the cyanide capsules hanging from their necks.

He said the two sea going crafts were definitely not Fishing trawlers and one was a Dingy and the other was a LTTE destroyer.

One craft was entirely engulfed in fire as soon as it was attacked indicating it was carrying high explosives. Both crafts are believed to have come from the Tamil Nadu shores.

Sri Lankan intelligence sources say these boats constantly sail between the narrow Palk Straits between the two countries and the Bay of Mannar obviously gun running.

The Opposition leaders in India have alleged that the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Muthuvel Karunanidhi is providing a camouflaged support for the LTTE to obtain their weapons from or through India.