It was on a bright January afternoon 11 years ago that sleuths from the Tamil Nadu Q Branch, Criminal Investigation Department, trooped into a private boatyard at Munambam.
They halted the ongoing construction of a boat and declared that they were sealing it since it was being built for the then powerful LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam).
Over a decade later, that boat, or rather its frame, now rust-coloured, remains exactly where the sleuths left it, as a relic of the organisation that was vanquished a year after its construction was halted.
‘Fed up’
“Construction of a boat takes up to four months and at the time of suspension, the work was only 20 days old. Now, it remains here as a permanent barrier blocking our access to the shore and throwing a spanner in our works. We are fed up of asking the fisheries authorities to remove it from here,” said the owner of the yard who refused to be named.
When asked, Fisheries Department authorities said that they had contacted the Q Branch on numerous occasions regarding the matter, but to no avail. “The matter is pending with them. Unless they give a clearance and communicate that the case has been wrapped up, we can hardly do anything about the boat since it remains their evidence,” said M.S. Saju, Joint Director, Fisheries.
Regular practice
It was by sheer chance that the boat began to be built in the yard.
A ‘maestri’ (chief builder) had approached the yard asking for space on rent to build a boat for a client. There was nothing unusual in it, as it was a regular practice among boatyards in the region to rent spaces. The yard owners provided the space on rent after recording the address of the client and then forgot about it.
The sleuths gave them a rude jolt. And, they are reminded of it each day ever since for the past 11 years.