By T.S.V. Hari and P.K. Balachandran, IANS
Chennai/Colombo : In a menacing development, a Tamil Tiger squad mingled among Indian fishing boats and fired rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) at the Sri Lankan Navy damaging a vessel, officials said Tuesday.
Indian fishermen caught in the firing in the sea amid darkness Monday evening returned to the Tamil Nadu shore with harrowing tales, Indian military officials told IANS from the port town of Rameshwaram.
Commodore D.K.P. Dassanayake of the Sri Lanka Navy said that the incident occurred at about 6.30 p.m. Monday when two of some 400 Indian trawlers off Sri Lanka’s northwestern Talaimannar coast signalled for help.
“When our patrol boats went near them, one of the Indian boats opened fire. The noise was so huge that we think they were RPGs,” he said in Colombo. “One of our boats was damaged.
“Since it was dark and there were 400 Indian boats at sea, we could neither fire back nor investigate,” Dassanayake told IANS.
“Soon enough, we found that the Indian boats poaching in our waters were getting back to the Indian side of the maritime boundary line.”
Sri Lankan authorities immediately alerted the Indian high commission in Colombo about the unprecedented development.
Officials in Tamil Nadu said that the fishermen caught in the life threatening drama were being debriefed. None of the Indian fishermen was injured because the Sri Lankans did not fire back.
There was no immediate comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) about the incident.
A military officer in Rameshwaram said: “Fishermen alleged that the Sea Tigers (LTTE’s naval wing) managed to sneak in their midst when it was dark when people were fishing in the Palk Strait (the narrow sea dividing Sri Lanka and India).
“At least two RPGs were said to have been fired,” the officer said. “We have been told that the Tiger boats went southwards following the retreat of the Sri Lankan naval vessels after firing several shots.”
It was not immediately clear if the Indian boats crossed the international maritime boundary. Sri Lankan officials appeared to believe that it was indeed the case.
Said Dassanayake: “The saddest part is that from now on, we cannot even answer calls for assistance from the Indian boats, because we could be fired upon. Till now we have been boarding vessels that poach into our waters, taking them into custody, and subsequently releasing them.
“Something must be done immediately by India to stop its fishermen from poaching in Sri Lankan waters.”
Recently, the Sri Lankan Navy had planted mines in the Palk Strait to keep the Indian fishing boats away. But apparently these are not acting as deterrents.
According to an independent military source, the LTTE has been using Indian fishermen as a cover to smuggle petrol, diesel and other dual-purpose material to Sri Lanka from southern India.
“The LTTE is believed to be paying (Sri Lankan) Rs.900 to 1,000 (about $10) for a litre of petrol, which is good money for poor Indian fishermen,” the source said.
Political circles here suspect that the LTTE, desperately wanting to whip up support for itself in Tamil Nadu, may be trying to get Indian Tamil fishermen killed by engineering a conflict with the Sri Lankan Navy in the Palk Strait.
The idea behind shooting at the Sri Lankan Navy Monday might have been to get the Sri Lankans to fire back and kill some Indian fishermen, which could then be used to whip up pro-LTTE and anti-Colombo feelings in Tamil Nadu.
In recent times, the Sri Lankan Navy has been careful not to physically harm intruding Indian fishermen. New Delhi has urged Colombo not to shoot but arrest and then let off the offenders.
India’s plea has been that Indian fishermen cannot be blamed for straying into Sri Lankan waters in the Palk Strait because it is very narrow (about 30 km) and the sea here has been open to them since time immemorial.
In fact, the maritime boundary agreement between the two countries signed in the mid-1970s recognises the Indian fishermen’s traditional fishing rights around Kachchativu, an island rich in marine life midway between India and Sri Lanka in the Palk Strait.
But now that there has been firing from the “Indian fishermen”, who some fear may well be Tamil Tigers in disguise, New Delhi and Colombo might have to work out new approaches to the problem, a Sri Lankan military source said.