'Live' 120 MM Mortar Shell recovered from Rameswaram coast

Rameswaram Island, Jan 30 (UNI) Tamil Nadu police today recovered a 'live' 120 MM mortar shell here at the Serankottai sea shore.

Police sources said during a routine patrol along the Coastal belt, a team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Kamalabhai found the lethal bomb, partly buried in the sands. The mortar shell was in a rusty condition and it was not known that whether it was washed away to the shore or buried by the LTTE militants long ago.

The shells were normally used by the Army to destroy enemy positions using Rocket launchers. The police were probing whether the recovered shell belonged to the Sri Lankan Army or to the LTTE.

The shell was brought to the Rameswaram temple police station for further investigation.

It may be recalled that police seized four carbines (Light Machine Guns) at Pirappanvalasai coastal village in Ramanathapuram district on December 24, last. The carbines were in a rusted condition and beyond use. Police suspected that the weapons could have been buried by the cadres of Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), a Sri Lankan militant group during eighties.

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