Tamil Nadu’s heightened border challenge Premium

Security threats from drug lords and infiltrators loom large

The seized Sri Lankan boat near Dhanushkodi in Ramanathapuram district. Photo: Special Arrangement

With a 1,076 km-long porous coastline and a border with three States, Tamil Nadu is facing a heightened border challenge after many years.

In recent weeks, there have been frequent intelligence warnings to the State government about the likely entry of drug lords and infiltrators through the sea route. Early this week, a speedboat was found abandoned on the shore at Dhanushkodi in Ramanathapuram district. Intelligence agencies quickly sent out an alert that the plastic boat belonged to a fisherman in Analaitheevu near Jaffna in Sri Lanka, and could have been used to smuggle contraband or infiltrators into the country. There have been several such cases of boats being found at landing points in coastal districts. Not many of these have led to arrests of suspected infiltrators or the seizure of smuggled goods.

It is not just the arrival of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees that is a cause for concern, but also of smugglers indulging in drug or arms or human trafficking. Though the number of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees is low, law-enforcement agencies say there has been no respite in the activities of smugglers engaged in drugs and arms trafficking. In March 2021, coastal security agencies seized 301 kg of heroin, five AK 47 rifles and 1,000 rounds of 9-mm ammunition from six Sri Lankan nationals onboard the Ravihansi. The case exposed the role of some Sri Lankan nationals in the Tiruchi Special Camp (where foreign nationals facing criminal cases are lodged). A probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) revealed that the suspects were in touch with Haji Salim, a Pakistani drug lord, and were placing orders for huge consignments of drugs to be transported via sea to Sri Lanka. The money was allegedly being raised to aid the revival of the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Central and State intelligence agencies have also issued advisories about People’s Liberation Army personnel who landed in Sri Lanka with satellites, drones and other high-tech communication gadgets and were heard saying on record that they were exploring opportunities in sea cucumber farming. Chinese ‘investment’ in sea cucumber farming in northern Sri Lanka has sparked security concerns as the projects are close to India’s southern coast.

Last August, the Tamil Nadu Coastal Security Group also issued an alert citing Central intelligence input that a Chinese ship used to monitor satellites and rockets/inter-continental missile launches was docked at the Hambantota Port. The Group called for adequate security arrangements in view of sensitive installations such as nuclear establishments and seaports across the coastline.

A large number of Bangladeshi nationals too have illegally entered India through West Bengal and have settled in several parts of Tamil Nadu, posing as Bengalis. Senior police officers say these illegal immigrants have impersonated Indians and acquired documents such as Aadhaar cards, PAN cards and passports.

Police officers say about 93,000 Sri Lankan Tamils are staying (following registration) in refugees’ camps or outside in Tamil Nadu and Odisha. “We suspect that an equal number of refugees, such as Bangladeshi immigrants, might be illegally staying in the State. It is hard to track them as they might have obtained proof of address/travel documents with fictitious names and settled in those areas for many years,” says a senior police officer.

While Tamil Nadu is gearing up to counter these cross-border challenges, fresh alerts are being issued on the threat to internal security from suspected Islamic State (IS) operatives. On the eve of Deepavali last year, weeks after a ban on the Popular Front of India, an LPG cylinder exploded inside a car in Coimbatore. The NIA described it as a suspected IS module. Another suspect who sustained injuries in an autorickshaw blast in Mangaluru, Karnataka, had visited Tamil Nadu prior to the explosion.

The State police are also investigating intelligence inputs that more than a dozen law college students in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu have been inducted into the CPI (Maoist). The Maoists are trying to revive the Western Ghats Special Zonal Committee and establish their base in the tri-junction forests of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. For the Tamil Nadu police, it is no longer enough to just maintain law and order; they have the larger task at hand of preventing infiltrations and terror strikes.