VZCZCXRO6010
RR RUEHBI RUEHCI
DE RUEHCG #0086/01 0330824
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 020824Z FEB 07
FM AMCONSUL CHENNAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0621
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2248
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 0707
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 4970
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 1300

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 000086 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PTER IN CE
SUBJECT: TAMIL NADU POLICE ARREST SUSPECTED LTTE SMUGGLERS, STEP UP 
REFUGEE SCREENING 
 
REF: 06 CHENNAI 2601 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Seizing thousands of kilos of iron ball bearings 
from suspected smugglers, Tamil Nadu (TN) police appear to have 
busted an emerging LTTE supply line.  TN police believe the ball 
bearings were meant to be used in LTTE's explosive devices to 
enhance their lethality.  The seizures led to the arrest of 11 
persons in Tamil Nadu and Mumbai, five of them Sri Lankan Tamils. 
Following reports of refugee disappearances from camps in the state, 
Tamil Nadu police have begun closer monitoring, including 
fingerprinting and videotaping new arrivals.  New refugee arrivals, 
however, have considerably dwindled compared to mid 2006.  END 
SUMMARY 
 
TAMIL NADU POLICE BUST SUSPECTED LTTE SUPPLY LINE 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The anti-terrorist wing (Q-Branch) of the Tamil Nadu state 
police seized 7500 kilos of iron ball bearings meant to be smuggled 
to Sri Lanka and arrested 11 people including five Sri Lankan 
Tamils.  The January 23-29 search and arrest operations covered 
Chennai and Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, as well as Mumbai where two 
Indians were arrested for supplying the ball bearings. In November 
2006, the police had seized thousands of "gelex boosters" in south 
Tamil Nadu and arrested three persons for allegedly trying to 
smuggle them to Sri Lanka (reftel). 
 
¶3. (SBU) Additional Director General of Tamil Nadu Police 
(Intelligence) Nanjil Kumaran (protect) told us the police believe 
the ball bearings were meant to be used by the LTTE in their 
Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) to enhance lethality.  According 
to preliminary information, this was the first attempt by the group 
to smuggle ball bearings to Sri Lanka.  Asked if the recent seizures 
indicate heightened LTTE smuggling activity through Tamil Nadu, he 
said: "Had we not seriously pursued the investigations and arrested 
the culprits, the smuggling activity would have picked up in the 
future." 
 
"NO TOLERENCE FOR LTTE ACTIVITY AND PRESENCE" 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) According to Kumaran, Tamil Nadu police will not tolerate 
"any LTTE activity and presence" in the state. "Politically, the DMK 
government has sympathy for the just cause of Sri Lankan Tamils, but 
that does not mean extending support to the LTTE," he said.  DMK 
leaders understand their coalition partner Congress' sensitivities 
on the issue, he explained, adding that the Congress will never 
forget the trauma of Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in 1991 in Tamil 
Nadu.  Kumaran, then serving as Superintendent of Police in change 
of Security, himself suffered injuries in the LTTE bombing that 
killed Gandhi.  "My colleagues thought I was dead," Kumaran said, 
recalling the incident when he was found lying unconscious, wounded 
by dozens of pieces of shrapnel.  "Nobody in Tamil Nadu will forget 
the Rajiv Gandhi assassination," he said, and described the act as 
"the biggest blunder the LTTE ever committed." 
 
REFUGEES BEING MORE CLOSELY MONITORED 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) According to media reports, one of the arrested  Sri 
Lankans had come to India as a refugee and stayed at the Mandapam 
Refugee camp from 2000-2002 before disappearing.  Other news reports 
of refugees disappearing from Tamil Nadu camps to take illegal 
ferries to the island have prompted the Tamil Nadu police to step up 
security monitoring.  Public and Rehabilitation Secretary to the 
Government of Tamil Nadu, S. Audiseshiah, told us that state police 
are now taking fingerprints and video images of the refugees 
arriving Tamil Nadu.  Audiseshiah, however, described the move as 
not representing any policy change towards the refugees. He added 
that the new arrivals are only a trickle and in terms of numbers, 
easily manageable. 
 
REFUGEE ARRIVALS MUCH LOWER THAN MID 2006 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) According to the statistics of the Organization for Eelam 
Refugees Rehabilitation (OfERR), a refugee relief NGO, recent 
refugee arrivals have dwindled from the levels of May-September of 
¶2006.  A total of 16,886 refugees have landed in Tamil Nadu from the 
beginning of January 2006 to the end of January 2007.  The monthly 
figures are as follows: 
 
2006 
January: 304 
February: 193 
March: 71 
April: 43 
 
CHENNAI 00000086  002 OF 002 
 
 
May: 1456 
June: 1770 
July: 1822 
August: 5769 
September: 3749 
October: 735 
November: 314 
December: 266 
 
2007 
January: 394 
 
A MESSAGE TO THE LTTE AND REASSURANCE TO NEW DELHI 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: It is unclear whether any of the arrested Sri 
Lankans are hardcore LTTE members or just their hired middlemen. 
The Tamil Nadu government and police have used the opportunity of 
the smuggling arrests to send a message to the LTTE as well as to 
the UPA government at the Center that, notwithstanding sympathies 
towards the Tamils of Sri Lanka, the DMK government will offer no 
support to the LTTE militancy.  The decrease in refugee arrivals, 
far below the huge outflow we believe would serve as a tripwire for 
heightened political sensitivities in Tamil Nadu, also gives the 
state government considerable leeway for handling the Sri Lankan 
Tamil issue.  END COMMENT 
HOPPER