Lankans under cops’ scanner

(August 08, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Tamilnadu police has brought Sri Lankan nationals under close surveillance after initiating a crackdown on LTTE militants trying to re-establish supply links in the State.

The State has more than 120 Sri Lankan nationals who were overstaying their visa period.
.
‘These Lankans are not refugees, but come here for business or for medical treatment and overstay. Like Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, the Lankans were under close surveillance of the police,’ according to sources.

A senior police official said that it was not easy to initiate action against those who overstay their visa period in the country as procedures have to be followed prior to that.

The LTTE seems to have shifted its base and made Chennai a preferred destination to carry on the procurement operations in recent times.

In the past few weeks, police arrested four LTTE men in connection with three cases. It may be noted that police arrested two more Sri Lankan youth, who were part of a procurement module of the banned outfit, and seized from them material used for making explosives.

Acting on a tip-off, ‘Q’ branch police, dealing with extremists, arrested two Jaffna residents Uma Ramanan (23) and Amalan (21) and recovered 1.5 kg of potassium nitrate powder, a solar light, a few spark plugs and wires from their possession on Tuesday.

They were held under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, under which the LTTE has been banned, and were later remanded to judicial custody. Intelligence sources said that the two were part of a procurement module of the LTTE and were nabbed from a rented house at Tirumangalam.

The capture of the two is the latest in a series of arrests of LTTE cadres, including its procurement wing chief Thambianna alias Daniel, and Sri Lankan nationals besides local associates in the past few weeks in the State.

A Sri Lankan Tamil refugee Selvakumar was arrested from suburban Keelkattalai area on 4 August on charges of trying to supply electronic gadgets to the LTTE.

Police later recovered communication gadgets like two power units, and nine internet phone adaptors among other accessories from his room at Kelambakkam.
- Sri Lanka Guardian