Refugees rescued from Adam146;s Bridge

The Indian Coast Guard have rescued 86 hungry and rain-soaked Sri Lankan Tamils from several sand dunes off Dhanushkodi near Rameshwaram since Saturday night where they had been dumped by boatmen who fled apprehending arrest by Indian patrol boats.

The Indian Coast Guard have rescued 86 hungry and rain-soaked Sri Lankan Tamils from several sand dunes off Dhanushkodi near Rameshwaram since Saturday night where they had been dumped by boatmen who fled apprehending arrest by Indian patrol boats.

According to reports reaching here, while a Coast Guard hovercraft picked up 16 refugees from the second island on Saturday night, rescue efforts resumed this morning and 70 more stranded Lankan Tamils were picked up with the help of local fishermen. The 28 families, including 26 women and 19 children, had fled Vavuniya, Velvettithurai, Trincomallee and Mannar in North Sri Lanka.

One youth swam all the way from one of the islands where he was dumped and reached Rameshwaram shores this morning, the police said. The refugees had paid as much Rs 10,000 per head for the illegal ferry which brought them in the dead of night to avoid patrolling

Indian and Lankan Navy boats.

With the Indian maritime agencies tightening coastal security following seizures of consignments of explosives and other materials being smuggled to the LTTE, the rate for being ferried to Indian shores by boat from Sri Lanka has shot up.

In the wee hours of Friday, the group of 86 refugees had been dumped on the several islands, about 6 km from Dhanushkodi. They sat waiting under the scorching sun and rain and without food for two days until a Coast Guard hovercraft spotted them. Fleeing war-torn Lanka, they carry just their bare essentials without bothering to stock themselves with drinking water or food.

As the exhausted bunch wait at the Mandapam police station near Rameshwaram, to be registered before being screened and questioned by the state 8216;Q8217; branch and the various Central agencies to rule out they are militants, a few NGOs bring them food and water.

So far, since January 2006, when hostilities broke out again between the Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE, 18,000 refugees have reached the Indian shores. But just as they sneak into Rameshwaram, many refugees also stealthily return home.