VIJAYAWADA: After the alert issued by the Central Intelligence agencies that Sri Lankan nationals may enter India in boats to escape the economic crisis in the island nation, the Marine police and Coast Guard have sounded high alert in coastal areas across Andhra Pradesh.
It might be recalled that Tamil Nadu’s Marine police had detained a family of four — husband, wife, and two children — when they reached Dhanushkodi from Sri Lank and handed them over to the Mandapam camp on Friday.
According to sources, the Central intelligence agencies warned that there are chances of Sri Lankan Tamil families reaching Indian shores in Nellore district. As the economic crisis in Sri Lanka escalates, intelligence agencies alerted Andhra Pradesh and other States to maintain strict vigil on and off the coasts.
The state police instructed the fishermen community across the coastline from Visakhapatnam to Nellore to inform them if they found anyone suspicious entering the Indian waters. AP has 974 kilometres of coastline and security has been tightened in all coastline villages. Nellore SP Ch Vijaya Rao told TNIE that both Nellore and Tirupati share a coast line of 90 km and special teams were formed to check boats, in coordination with Marine police. Special teams were formed to keep a vigil on suspicious boats in coastal areas of Nellore district, which is a Tamil Nadu border district.
He said the fishermen community was taken into confidence to alert police if they found anyone from Sri Lanka entering Indian waters. “So far, no such incident of refugee entry has been reported in the State. Central agencies warned that there are chances of Sri Lanka nationals arriving in AP. We increased security at all identified places and borders to check suspicious arrivals,” said Vijaya Rao.