A boat carrying about 100 kilograms of explosives has been seized by the Indian Navy off Rameswaram coast.
The seizure included improvised explosive device, fuse wire, steel clips, remote control equipment, steel washers and aluminum plates, worth several lakhs of rupees, police said, adding that two persons on board the boat had been arrested.
The boat, with a high-power motor, was en route to Talaimannar from Tuticorin late Monday night when a naval patrol vessel intercepted it.
The two men arrested, on being questioned, stated that Tuticorin-based Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam militants' agents had requested them to ferry the boat till their area.
The boat was brought to Rameshwaram on Tuesday and inspected by Ramanathapuram District Superintendent of Police P Tirugnanam, Naval Assistant Commander S P Singh and Area Commander (South) Commander Mukherjee.
In the wake of the seizure, police have launched a major hunt for LTTE agents based in Chennai and Tuticorin who used the duo to ferry explosives and other equipment.
Official sources said a general alert had been sounded to all naval units, the Coast Guard and customs along the Gulf of Mannar, Palk Straits and International Maritime boundary line.
Sources said such a large quantity of explosives will not have found its way to Tuticorin coast and then on to Rameswaram unless there was slackness on the part of police.