Intelligence Bureau and Tamil Nadu Police yesterday (March 4) arrested two Sri Lankan Tamils in Kerela on charges of making a Indian Rupees 4.2 million worth boat for the LTTE, IANS reported.

Premraj alias Raj alias Dorai Kutty was found to have links with Soosai, leader of Sea Tigers.

The other man, Kumar alias Diesel Kumar, was one of the 17 LTTE cadres who the Sri Lanka Navy caught in October 1987 on charges of gun running off Jaffna when Indian troops were deployed in Sri Lanka's northeast.

All 17 guerrillas bit cyanide in a bid to commit suicide to prevent being flown to Colombo for interrogation. Twelve of them died instantly but five survived. Diesel Kumar was one of them.

Premraj was arrested in Trichy in Tamil Nadu where he has lived with his family. Diesel Kumar used to live in a refugee camp in Rameshwaram housing Sri Lankan Tamils.

According to confessions the two men have made to the authorities, Premraj received Rs.3 million from the LTTE through hawala transfer to make the vessel at a boatyard at Munambam near Kochi.

When ready, Diesel Kumar would have taken it across the sea dividing India and Sri Lanka to the LTTE.

Both men have been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for assisting and abetting the LTTE, which is outlawed in India, and the Indian Penal Code.