Bodies wash ashore in Mannar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 May 2003, 10:02 GMT]
Two bodies, suspected to be those of Indian fishermen or returning Tamil refugees, washed ashore in Mannar this week, district court sources in the northwestern island town said Thursday. A Sri Lanka army sentry near the Thallaady military base in Mannar detected one on 6 May and a civilian found the other in Talaimannar Wednesday.

The bodies were handed over by the Police to the Mannar hospital. Police sources in Mannar said investigations are on to determine the identity of the dead persons.

Mannar district court sources said many illegal activities take place in the Gulf of Mannar and are largely unmonitored due to the sensitivities of Indian and Sri Lankan maritime security. Murder of smugglers of heroin and other contraband and their boatmen in the sea go undetected, they said.

Returning Tamil refugees who are illegally brought over to Mannar by boat are sometimes abandoned on sandbanks in mid sea for not paying up the fare demanded by Indian fishermen.