NEW DELHI, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Eight groups of Sri Lankan Tamil families have landed illegally in southern India, fearing an outbreak of war in their country.
According to The Indian Express newspaper, eight lots of the families have reached Indian shores undetected since Jan. 12.
The Indian navy learned of the exodus when they spotted a boat stationed at the forward observation point near Arichalmunai -- 500 meters from India's farthest point.
"We saw the boat carrying the refugees and another escort boat. By the time we got to them, they had dropped the passengers in waist-deep water and fled," said B. Kaushik, an Indian Marine Commando.
Navy personnel stationed on beaches across southern Rameshwaram questioned the refugees. Male refugees were asked to strip and were checked for wartime scars.
"We check their elbows and knuckles to ascertain if they had been a part of (the) Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam movement," said a police officer linked with the questioning.
He said the refugees did not disclose the names of the boatmen who ferried them to India. They paid between $80 and $150 per person, with the price increasing as the threat of war became more real.
"The deal is struck on the Talaimannar shores in northern Sri Lanka. Fishermen on the Mannar shores put us on boatmen, were generally Lankan Tamil fishermen," said Ramesh Ravindran, who was dropped at an unscheduled point on India's shore with seven others.
More refugees are expected to arrive in India as the fear of the outbreak of a war increases with the Tamil rebels renewing their armed struggle against the security forces in the island country.
