The Indian Coast Guard on Saturday (December 6) recovered one more boat with bullet marks at Arichamuna raising suspicion among officials that the LTTE were sneaking into Tamil Nadu.

The Commanding Officer, Coast Guard, Mandapam that there were 14 bullet marks on the boat. This is the third such seizure in the last 15 days, The Hindu said.

The boat was found abandoned by a Coast Guard vessel on patrol. Like in the earlier cases, the outboard engine had been removed. No one has come forward to claim it. It was towed to the Mandapam Coast Guard station.

Asked about the continuous seizure of abandoned boats, the Commandant said there was no clear information. Terming it a mystery, he said it had to be thoroughly investigated.

He added that the pattern of arrival of boats showed they had reached the shore in the night. It had to be verified whether the engines had been taken away by fishermen or buried in the sand.