By T.S.V. Hari, IANS
Chennai : Rumours of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) supremo V. Prabhakaran having crossed the Palk Straits to India to recuperate from wounds sent the Tamil Nadu police into a tizzy Friday.
The state police’s anti-extremist wing – the ‘Q’ Branch – refused to comment on the rumours that said Prabhakaran may have been seriously wounded and moved to Tamil Nadu.
There were enough indications here that the law and order machinery was pressed into service to check all hospitals across the state for persons with unexplained wounds.
Meanwhile, fishermen belonging to Rameshwaram, 600 km south of here, are on an indefinite strike to demand removal of floating mines in the expanse of water separating India from Sri Lanka.
Fishermen’s associations have threatened to block roads from Feb 1 if their charter of demands, including for immediate release of 12 of their comrades allegedly held by the Sri Lankan navy, is not met.
The island’s navy has openly admitted to mining the expanse of water between Rameshwaram and northern Sri Lanka to prevent LTTE operatives from escaping sustained aerial bombing by the Sri Lankan Air Force.
Police officials in Chennai said a strict vigil was being maintained in conjunction with the Coast Guard personnel around Rameshwaram. Searches are being carried out in all islets where arms and ammunition could have been buried in preparation for transhipment.
Official sources also revealed that at least 200 industrial units in Coimbatore that had remained closed for a considerable period of time had suddenly resumed activity recently. These were searched for any illicit production, the officials said.
“We are just making sure that none of these factories is manufacturing contraband bomb parts. As a matter of ample precaution, we are also keeping a watch over all Sri Lankan Tamil refugees living here,” a top police official said by phone from Coimbatore.
The state government termed as “untrue” all allegations made by the opposition – Congress and AIADMK legislators – that Tamil Nadu has become a haven for dozens of injured LTTE fugitives.
Top defence officials’ admission of training Lankan military personnel has triggered protests from several Tamil political parties that offer “moral support to the Tamil cause”. These include the MDMK and the PMK – though the two are on either side of the political divide in Tamil Nadu.