The Intelligence Bureau is keeping a vigil on the movement of suspected persons in the border areas of Tamil Nadu after it received inputs that members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam had reportedly tried to set up camps in the forest areas near Idukki district.
Highly placed sources said there were chances of setting up such camps in the forest areas and adjoining villages as it would give them cover, adding Sri Lankan Tamils could be easily identified in Tamil Nadu by their dialect.
The chances of using airports in Kerala for transit were monitored after Sri Lanka clamped down on the group's activities. The sources said the airports could be used by certain overseas sponsors of the group to keep channels of communication open.
Idukki's forest areas bordering Tamil Nadu in the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) could be used by the cadres to regroup. It is estimated that about 1,000 Sri Lankan Tamils live in Pachakkanam Gavi inside the PTR where they had been repatriated as part of a rehabilitation pact signed by the then Sri Lankan Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike and her Indian counterpart Jawaharlal Nehru. They work in the cardamom plantations of the Kerala Forest Development Corporation Ltd.
Intelligence sources said a large number of repatriates had migrated to Tamil Nadu and there was a remote chance of communication between them and members of the LTTE.
