Even as most of the Indian pilgrims, who went to Kachchatheevu to take part in St. Anthony's Church festival on Saturday, returned to Rameswaram safely, two Sri Lankan Tamil refugees landed in Rameswaram on Sunday along with them.
The arrival of refugees, which has not been noticed after the end of civil war in Sri Lankan in 2009, has bemused the Indian security officials in Rameswaram, who have camped here to monitor the return of Indian pilgrims from Kachchatheevu.
It came to light when the customs, immigration and police officials frisked the pilgrims, who returned to Rameswaram after attending the festival. They were identified as R. Usha (33) and her daughter Neera (4) belonging to Trinomalee in Sri Lanka. It was said that they were ferried to Rameswaram from Kachchatheevu by a mechanized boat (TN-10-MFB 234) owned by one Devadoss, which went to the island with a group of Indian pilgrims. The Sri Lankans, who came to Kachchatheevu under the pretext of pilgrims, fled to India by utilizing the availability of boats. It was not immediately known the reasons for them to reach India at the moment. Kaliraj S. Mahesh Kumar, Superintendent of Police, said the Sri Lankan woman was being questioned by the police to find out the reasons for her arrival. The information given by her would be corroborated through various sources.
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She had sought to take refuge in India. Decision to extend the status of refugees would be taken after a through interrogation.
Security officials had prevented the attempt of 15 Sri Lankan Tamils, who were staying in different refugees' camps, to flee to Sri Lanka through an illegal journey along with Indian pilgrims, who went to Kachchatheevu on Saturday. There were sent to their respective camps with a warning.