Goa police on lookout for LTTE cadres, sympathisers

PANAJI - Police are keeping an eye on Sri Lankan Tamils possibly working on fishing trawlers and in the mushrooming hotel industry in coastal Goa after the union home ministry warned of infiltration by surviving cadres of the decimated Tamil Tigers.

“The home ministry circular was forwarded to us by the state home department Monday. The instructions are to keep a vigil on ghettos where Tamil-speaking persons tend to stay,” a police official told IANS.

“We have also been asked to keep an eye on fishing trawler hubs and source information on any possible LTTE sympathisers working in the hotel line (industry),” he said.

The official added that immigration records were also being scanned to see if any Sri Lankan nationals had landed in Goa in recent times.

Superintendent of Police Omprakash Kurtadkar, who is in charge of Goa Police’s foreigner’s branch, has issued a circular to all police stations and immigration points to look out and maintain surveillance for suspicious Tamil Tiger sympathisers.

“A lot of Sri Lankan Tamils are found indulging in illegal activities. Efforts should be made to locate them,” the circular reads.

Some years ago, the state police and Indian customs officials had seized a global positioning system (GPS) equipped fishing trawler registered in Sri Lanka which had strayed into India’s territorial waters.

Fearing infiltration by surviving cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) - after the rebels were decimated last year - the Indian home ministry has ordered all states to look out for them.