VZCZCXRO9244
RR RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPW
DE RUEHCG #0408/01 3530204
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 180204Z DEC 08
FM AMCONSUL CHENNAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2013
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 000408 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PTER PHUM IN CE
SUBJECT: ABANDONED BOATS STOKE FEARS OF LTTE OPERATIVES FLEEING INTO 
INDIA 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Six abandoned Sri Lankan boats, some marked with 
bullet holes and blood stains, recently washed up on Tamil Nadu 
shores.  Tamil Nadu police claim the boats drifted to India after a 
recent cyclone, but this explanation has not convinced Indian Navy 
officials.  Security analysts suspect that members of the Liberation 
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) abandoned the boats after fleeing from 
Sri Lanka to India.  The unexplained Sri Lankan boats on Indian soil 
reinforce the serious concerns about India's capacity to protect its 
coastline in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.  End summary. 
 
 
Abandoned Sri Lankan boats wash ashore in Tamil Nadu 
--------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Between November 19 and December 5, local fishermen found 
at least six (some newspapers reported eight) Sri Lankan boats 
drifting offshore near Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu (the point in India 
closest to Sri Lanka).  Three of the boats reportedly had bullet 
marks and one had dry blood stains.  All but one of the boats had 
been stripped of its outboard engines.  Law enforcement authorities 
inspected the boats and took them into custody.  According to media 
reports, police officers said such a large number of abandoned Sri 
Lankan boats have never washed ashore before. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The abandoned boats triggered speculation of infiltration 
into India by LTTE fighters escaping the war in Sri Lanka.  Some 
reporters suggested that injured LTTE operatives might have used the 
boats to travel to Tamil Nadu to receive medical treatment.  (Note: 
The consensus view is that it is unlikely that these boats were used 
by Sri Lankan refugees who abandoned them upon arrival.  Refugees 
from Sri Lanka have no incentive to surreptitiously enter India as 
the government accepts them as a matter of course, even going so far 
as to make welfare payments to properly registered refugees.  End 
note.) 
 
Police deny LTTE angle 
------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) On December 10, a police official told the media that "a 
thorough investigation conducted along with sister agencies revealed 
that the boats had apparently drifted from Sri Lanka due to the 
recent cyclone."  He claimed that the boats "were not being used for 
any activity subversive to the nation's security as reported in 
certain sections of the media." 
 
Indian Navy disagrees; says state probe is ongoing 
--------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Vice Admiral N.K. Varma of the Indian Navy's Eastern 
Command, who was on a "routine inspection of the naval detachment" 
at Ramanathapuram on December 11, told the press that it is hardly 
possible that the storm carried the boats from Sri Lanka to India. 
He noted that the engines had been removed from the boats, saying 
further details would become available after the state government 
completes its investigations.  He added that although there is no 
threat from the LTTE to India, the Indian Navy would strengthen its 
surveillance of the Indian seas. 
 
Analysts believe terrorists might have crossed over 
--------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) A retired Indian Navy Commodore who, among many other 
assignments, commanded a patrol vessel during India's peacekeeping 
operation in Sri Lanka during the late 1980s, told post the "number 
of boats turning up is quite alarming."  Disputing the police 
explanation that the boats had been abandoned during the recent 
cyclone, the Commodore said he believes someone was using the 
weather as cover to land in India and abandon their boats.  "In 
light of the situation on the island (Sri Lanka)," he said, he 
presumes that LTTE fighters used the boats to escape Sri Lanka and 
then abandoned them upon arrival in India. 
 
¶7.  A retired Indian Army intelligence officer who also served in 
India's peacekeeping operation and still follows closely events on 
the island nation, was more emphatic in rejecting the police 
explanation.  When asked why the abandoned boats turned up in Tamil 
Nadu he laughed (presumably at our naivete) and quickly replied that 
he had no doubt LTTE operatives used the vessels to escape from Sri 
Lanka to India.  He believes the fleeing LTTE operatives likely came 
for medical treatment in Tamil Nadu, joking that they could easily 
get some "R&R" in state.  He surmised that private medical clinics 
in Tamil Nadu would have no problem providing treatment for injured 
LTTE fighters if the price was right. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Comment:  The inability of the Indian security forces to 
interdict or even explain convincingly the presence of these boats 
assumes greater importance as it comes shortly after the amphibious 
entry of the Mumbai terrorists raised serious questions about 
India's ability to protect its coast line.  The state police's 
quick, public conclusion that the boats just washed ashore after the 
 
CHENNAI 00000408  002 OF 002 
 
 
cyclone likely stems from a desire to avoid the potentially 
explosive conclusion that LTTE operatives are turning up in Tamil 
Nadu.  If evidence comes to light that the boats transported LTTE 
fighters, the state's ruling DMK will face charges that it has been 
soft on terror at a time when the issue is front and center in the 
minds of the electorate.  Such evidence will also force the 
government to take some sort of action to show it is taking 
terrorism seriously, which will expose it to criticism from the 
state's small, but vocal pro-Sri Lankan Tamil lobby.  As a result, 
we expect the state to continue to downplay the matter. 
Nonetheless, we will continue to follow the issue closely given the 
serious security implications of having LTTE fighters moving about 
Tamil Nadu.  End comment. 
 
KAPLAN