'Q' Branch Police to invoke NSA against 15 people

Chennai, Apr 1 (UNI) The Tamil Nadu Police are taking steps to invoke the National Security Act (NSA) against 15 people, including eight Sri Lankan Tamils, who were arrested for smuggling spare parts for ammunition to Sri Lanka.

On a tip-off that the spare parts were being smuggled to LTTE camps, the police nabbed Arulseelan, a native of Jaffna, in Tiruchirapplai on March six.

Based on his confession, 13 more people, including four Lankan Tamils, were arrested and iron balls weighing 4,500 kg, two boats and a lorry were seized at several parts of the state, police said.

Ever since launching a massive operation in November last to bust the arms supply chain to the LTTE , the 'Q' branch police had so far arrested 61 people, including 17 Sri Lankan Tamils.

Meanwhile, the police made a startling disclosure that the latest haul of 1,950 detonators unearthed at Irumeni in Ramanthapuram district on March 28 was part of the consignment seized by the Lankan Navy last year.

They said one Mr Dinakaran, a native of Madurai, was arrested by the Lankan Navy on January 26, 2006 after he attempted to smuggle 61,000 detonators to Sri Lanka with the assistance of five fishermen of Tamil Nadu.

He was subsequently arrested by the state police in November 2006 and was lodged in prison under the NSA.

However, it was found that the detonators, unearthed from a coconut grove in the district recently, were wrapped in newspapers dated September 26, 2005, February 13, 2006 and February 19, 2006.

As preliminary inquiries revealed that they were part of the consignment seized by the Lankan Navy in January 2006, a thorough probe had been launched into the matter, the police added.

In a related development, City Police Commissioner Letika Saran and top police officials today made a first-hand assessment of the city's coastal security from a hovercraft of the Coast Guard.

The review comes in the wake of the LTTE's recent aerial strike on a Sri Lankan air base, heightening tension in the island nation, seizure of arms and ammunition meant for supply to the LTTE and the increasing attack on fishermen in the high seas.

Similar exercises would be carried out in other coastal parts of the state, sources added.

UNI