Navy concerned over empty boats off Rameswaram coast

     
RAMESWARAM: The Indian Navy is concerned over the arrival of empty boats, some with bullet marks, off Rameswaram coast recently, Vice Admiral Nirmal Kumar Varma, Vishakapatinam,in-Charge of Eastern Naval Command said on Thursday.
    
"This cannot be taken lightly. It is for the state police and the Centre to investigate the reasons for the arrival of these boats," he told reporters here.
    
He, however, said there was no threat from LTTE.
    
The Tamil Nadu police in a press release yesterday said that "thorough investigations" revealed that the boats had apparently drifted from Sri Lanka due to the recent cyclone
    
Vice Admiral Varma said that the air station at Uchipuli on the Tamil Nadu coast needs to be extended so that Dornier aircraft could land there. Steps would be taken to extend the runway at Uchipuli Naval base, he said after visiting the Naval base here.
    
He, however, said there was no need to expand the Naval base at Rameswaram, as it had sufficient strength of personnel, ships and equipment to counter any threat.
    
He also stressed the need for providing jetties for the fishermen's boats so that it would be possible identify any outside boats being anchored.