ELEVEN KANYAKUMARI FISHERMEN “KIDNAPPED BY THE TAMIL TIGERS” RELEASED WHILE THE OTHER PERSON IS THOUGHT TO BE CAUGHT IN MALDIVES

By Walter Jayawardhana

Eleven out the twelve South Indian fishermen allegedly kidnapped by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been released by the kidnappers and returned to their home state of Tamil Nadu Indian police reports said.

It is not known under what conditions the Tamil fishermen were released by their alleged kidnappers , the Tamil Tigers.

Tamil Nadu’s Police Commissioner, D. Mukherjee on April 27 announced that five Tamil Nadu fishermen have been killed by the Sea Tigers , the naval wing of the LTTE and 12 others have been kidnapped by the same group.

A leading sympathizer of the LTTE, Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi of Tamil Nadu had blamed the deaths earlier on the Sri Lanka Navy. But the Chief Minister later failed to apologize for his wild allegations.

After it was revealed by the Tamil Nadu police itself about the perpetrators of the crime the ruling DMK is believed to have negotiated with the LTTE for the release of the kidnapped fishermen.
Unconfirmed reports said the LTTE demanded the release of gunrunners who had been in the custody of the Tamil Nadu police.

It is not known whether any kind of “prisoner exchanges” took place. But some observers pointed out that Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony who was speaking about the LTTE menace only few days ago came out with a terse, unsubstantiated statement of Sri Lanka Navy killing 77 Indian fishermen during the period of negotiations with the Tamil Tigers, who circulated the allegations around the world through their few dozens websites.

Analysts said those wild allegations could be at least part of the deal to release the fishermen. But no responsible newspaper or agency carried those allegations and Sri Lanka totally denied them. Others said it was “knee jerk reaction “ of the Man Mohan government to continue receive DMK support for the keeping of their coalition government from collapsing. Meanwhile India’s Janata Party President, Subramanian Swami called the killing and the kidnapping of the fishermen a challenge by the LTTE on India’s sovereignty.

The eleven fishermen claimed to have been released by the LTTE reached India in two batches. While one group of five reached Rameshwaram another group of six people arrived at an unknown place. Both groups were interrogated by the Tamil Nadu police about the kidnapping, sources said.
But the boat mechanic, the 12 th person who was a Malayali, from Kerala did not return with the others police reports said.

The missing mechanic from Kerala would have come under the custody of the Maldivian authorities when a suspected LTTE boat was destroyed there. The Kerala man was the first to jump out of the LTTE boat when it was being pursued by the Maldivian Coast Guard authorities, police sources in India said.

The 12 fishermen from Kodimunai in Kanyakumari district had set sail in the fishing craft 'Sri Krishna' on March 7. Apart from the Malayali mechanic Simon, the rest hail from Kanyakumari and Tuticorin districts of Tamil Nadu.

The Tamil Nadu police suspect that the vessel destroyed by the Maldivian authorities while being engaged in alleged gun running was the same boat.