Kerala: The LTTE connection

George Iype in Kochi

PART I: Kerala is the transit point for anti-India elements

Kerala has become a safe haven for hundreds of Tamils fleeing their homes in the strife-torn Jaffna peninsula in Sri Lanka. The state's airports have also become transit routes for LTTE cadres flying out to various Gulf and onward destinations.

No official records exist about how many Sri Lankan Tamils have settled in the state these last few years. But officials estimate that as many as 5,000 Jaffna Tamils may have bought property in different parts of the state, particularly in the Kasargode, Kozhikode, Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram districts.

"The Tamil population in Kerala is increasing day by day. A sizeable chunk of property purchases, especially of small pieces of land, is made by the Tamils," says S Mohan Das, a land surveyor in Kochi.

Das claims that more than 50 per cent of Tamils have bought real estate legally by exploiting the state government's unclear definition that all non-resident Indians buy property in Kerala.

"However, a large number of them buy property with forged certificates of birth and marriage. But there is one thing in common to these Tamils -- they are all from Sri Lanka," the surveyor said.

Police officers admit the influx of Sri Lankan Tamils to different parts of the state has placed Kerala in "a sensitive situation" as far as security is concerned. Among the large number of Tamils who migrate to Kerala from Sri Lanka are said to be LTTE agents, middlemen and cadres who use the state's airports to fly onward to foreign destinations.

The police and emigration authorities at the Cochin International Airport have proof that LTTE members pass through the airport on a daily basis.

On February 1, 2000, Dhanramji Gopal, a Lankan national bearing a forged passport number A 6607994, was arrested by the police at Cochin airport. On interrogation, Gopal confessed his original name was Sasidharan and that he was a Jaffna resident and that he had obtained the passport from Tiruchi in Tamil Nadu.

Investigating agencies suspect that at least 30 Sri Lankan Tamils fly out of Cochin airport every week. A year after the new airport was inaugurated, the agencies have taken into custody a large number of forged passports and emigration documents with which Lankan nationals tried to leave the country.

Airport officials admit that safe passage for Lankan Tamils has become a part of the thriving racket of sending Gulf-bound Keralites. Every day, a number of unskilled labourers and housemaids are "pushed" through the emigration channel to various Gulf countries in collusion between officials and travel agents.

Just as they facilitate the exit of Gulf-bound passengers, the emigration officers allegedly assist LTTE cadres leave India for various Gulf and onward destinations. The LTTE keeps its movement going through a wide network of overseas agents who help buy arms and ammunition for the insurgency in Jaffna.

Emigration officers at Cochin airport allegedly charge anything between Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 from each LTTE agent for "safe transit" through the security channel.

Intelligence Bureau officials believe a LTTE network now operates at airports across South India, especially Kerala. At many instances, at Cochin airport, the arrests were made on the basis of forged passports at the departure lounge after the Tamil nationals had cleared all emigration and security checks.

According to the regional passport office at Kochi, the forged passports mainly enter the state from Tamil Nadu. Last year some 1,500 passports were stolen from the Tiruchi passport office. "LTTE members use these forged passports to exit from India. The transit point is easily Kerala's airports," said a passport official.

For years, locations like Tiruchi in Tamil Nadu served as the escape routes for LTTE cadres. After the anti-Tamil riots in Sri Lanka in July 1983, Tamil Nadu became the destination for thousands of Tamils fleeing the island nation.

But there is no longer sympathy for Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu after Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by an LTTE suicide squad in May 1991.

While Sri Lanka-returned Tamils came under strict surveillance of police and intelligence officials in Tamil Nadu, the Tamil influx started moving to Kerala.

Over the years, the LTTE has smartly exploited the large influx of Tamils to Kerala from Jaffna. "The LTTE has been sending its agents and cadres to Kerala. We truly believe that many LTTE members pretend to be Tamil migrants passing through Kerala," a senior police officer said. But he stated that "Kerala is not a base for the LTTE."

"The state is a safe transit point for the LTTE network as far as we know," he added.

Investigating agencies probing the LTTE angle in Kerala have asked the state police to ensure strict emigration and security checks at the airports as a porous security system is said to be the reason for the safe passage of Lankan Tamils.

Alarmed at the Tamil influx to Kerala airports, the Intelligence Bureau has also requested the Airports Authority of India to immediately install high tech security gadgets like quick detection x-rays and level III forgery detection equipment.

ALSO SEE:
India's Vietnam
The IPKF in Sri Lanka: 10 Years On. A gripping series on what went wrong.

Design: Dominic Xavier

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