Tamil Nadu Home Department warned of possible regrouping of LTTE ahead of the Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day. Central intelligence agencies are on alert against former cadres of the now-defunct group carrying out attacks on May 18.
The Sri Lankan Tamils mark the Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day over the end of the 25-year-old Civil War in 2009. The ongoing protests and economic crisis in the island nation have given way to suspicions about the regrouping of Tamil groups including the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Last year, a former LTTE intelligence operative Satkunam was apprehended for smuggling narcotic drugs and collecting funds for regrouping the militant group in India. A woman was also arrested by the state police for trying to retrieve a dormant bank account linked to the group. She was boarding a flight from Chennai to Mumbai.
LTTE was a militant separatist group founded in the early 1970s to fight for an independent homeland for Hindu Tamils in Northeastern Sri Lanka.
Tamil Nadu police issued orders to all the district Superintendents of Police, especially in the coastal areas, to be on alert about the possibility of an influx of the former cadres into the state. Over 70 people have reached the Indian state from Sri Lanka after the economic crisis started.
They are travelling on fishing boats to reach Dhanushkodi and Rameswaram by paying an exorbitant fare. These people are being kept at the Mandapam refugee camp in Rameswaram as the state government decided not to send them to jail for illegal immigration.
Indian Coast Guard alerted fishing boats from Tamil Nadu to be vigilant to catch movement as boats from Sri Lanka are crossing the International Marine Boundary Line (IMBL). The Tamil Nadu coastal police are on alert for any suspicious movements.
Certain sections of the global Tamil diaspora are reportedly supporting the cause of Tamil nationalism. The Home Department sources are on the lookout for unorganised attacks with Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa family on the defensive.
Mangaluru police have also alerted Fisheries Association to keep an eye out for illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka. Karnataka coastline is also vulnerable to the influx of Sri Lankans fleeing the crisis at home.